Trump downplays rumors of Elon Musk's growing influence in Republican politics

Trump downplays  rumors of Elon  Musk's growing influence in Republican  politics

Elon Musk's intervention helped derail a  key government funding bill, but some political observers  wonder how long the alliance can  last.
Donald Trump  sought to  end speculation about Elon  Musk's excessive influence in Republican politics, insisting  in a conservative  rally that the tech billionaire would not usurp his authority as  the new president.
"No, he's not going to be president, I can tell  you that," Trump told cheering supporters at the Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix on Sunday.  "And I'm sure of it." You know why he  can't be? He  wasn't born in this  country. »
The remarks came after a week in which  Elon Musk's meddling helped derail a  key government funding  project, prompting Democratic critics to mockingly  call him  "President Musk." This prompted one Republican  lawmaker to compare  Elon Musk to a  "prime minister" after praising his role in the funding  struggle.
"We have a president, we have a  vice president, we have a  speaker of the House of Representatives. It's like Elon Musk is our prime  minister," Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales said on CBS  News' Face the  Nation.
Asked about  Musk's unelected status, Gonzales defended the  billionaire, saying he represented "the voice of the  people."
The Tesla  CEO and X owner posted more than 100  messages opposing the  initial funding  plan, calling it  "one of the worst bills ever  written" and urging Republicans to shut down the government  instead of supporting it. His social media  bombardment preceded similar opposition from Trump and helped  erode Republican support  in Congress, forcing  House Speaker Mike  Johnson to craft a  more modest alternative  measure.
The episode highlighted  Elon Musk's influence  in Republican politics  after his quarter-billion-dollar  donation to Trump's campaign.  As the president-elect tapped Musk to co-lead a new  nonprofit office focused on  cutting government inefficiencies, the  deal raised  new concerns  among Democrats about potential conflicts of interest given  Elon Musk's vast business  empire.
During debates on the funding bill last week,  Representative Rosa  DeLauro of Connecticut and the top Democrat on the House  Appropriations Committee said in a letter to congressional leaders that Musk had worked to  remove provisions that would have increased scrutiny of Chinese  investment — suggesting his opposition was  prompted by concerns  about protecting Tesla's manufacturing  plant in Shanghai.
Chris Coons, a Democratic  senator from Delaware, warned  that this dynamic  would only lead to more chaos, telling CNN's State of the Union on Sunday:  "We can't just have President-elect Trump  tweeting furiously at  4 a.m. . "We're also going to  see Elon Musk  inject instability into  the way we  approach very  complex and important issues."
Some political observers  are wondering how long  this alliance can last, given Trump's history of  high-profile clashes with supporters  that attract a lot of attention.
We'll guide you through the aftermath of the  U.S. election and the transition to a Trump  presidency.
"When you  start in  this role, you have  a lot of leverage," former New Jersey  Gov. Chris Christie told ABC's This Week on Sunday.  "It's always  going to fall apart. And that's  what's going to happen. And  you're going to see it.  This is also happening with Elon  Musk."
Another flashpoint could be the war in Ukraine,  a war that Trump has  vowed to end  quickly but that will come at the expense of Musk's Starlink satellite internet service, which has become crucial to Ukraine's  efforts.
Trump's son, Donald Trump  Jr., has tried to downplay any friction, telling  a conference in Phoenix  on Thursday: "You see what the media is trying to do to  ruin my father's relationship with Elon. They're trying to  . . . to cause  this disruption to  keep these  people from doing what  they do best, and we  can't afford that.

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