Trump rejects taunts that Elon Musk is real power behind US president-elect
Al Jazeera
Statements come amid criticism of Musk’s involvement in budget negotiations, outsized role in Trump transition.
United States President Donald Trump has pushed back on the notion that he has “ceded the presidency” to billionaire Elon Musk, who has taken an outsized role in the president-elect’s transition into the White House.
Trump made the comments during a speech in Arizona on Sunday, days after the Tesla and SpaceX owner intervened alongside the president-elect to scuttle a budget bill negotiated in Congress.
The incident was the latest in which Musk has taken an atypically large role in the incoming Trump administration, prompting criticism from Democrats and from within Trump’s own Republican party.
Directly addressing those criticisms for the first time, Trump praised Musk, before adding: “And no, he’s not taking the presidency.”
Trump further called the suggestion that he has “ceded the presidency to Elon Musk” another “hoax” pushed by his political opponents.
Trump also hinted at China’s growing influence around the canal, which connects the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans.
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