President-elect Donald Trump mentioned he has not ceded the presidency to billionaire Elon Musk, calling that accusation a “hoax.”
“No, he’s not taking the presidency,” Trump mentioned Sunday at Turning Level USA’s AmericaFest convention in Phoenix, Arizona.
“You know, they’re on a new kick,” Trump continued. “All the different hoaxes. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk. No, no, that’s not happening.”
He added that Musk couldn’t even be president as a result of he wasn’t born in America; he was born in South Africa.
Musk’s relationship with Trump has turn into a priority after Trump tapped Musk to co-lead the unofficial Division of Authorities Effectivity, an effort to chop federal spending. Musk’s position has drawn complaints contemplating his firms ― like Tesla, tunnel building providers firm Boring Co., and rocket-launcher SpaceX ― are federally regulated. Musk additionally helped cease the bipartisan price range proposal this week by continually posting about it on X, the social media platform he owns, previously often known as Twitter.
Musk’s involvement within the authorities has led Democrats to counsel that Musk is Trump’s “shadow president.”
“We need to face the reality: Right now, we have President Elon Musk,” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) mentioned Friday on MSNBC. “And Donald Trump, maybe he’s vice president. I guess vice presidents don’t do much, so that makes sense. He might be the chief of staff.”
JOSH EDELSON through Getty Pictures
Together with addressing the “President Musk” accusations on the conservative convention in Phoenix, Trump additionally mentioned that Russian President Vladimir Putin desires to satisfy with him “as soon as possible,” and Trump desires to finish the battle between Russia and Ukraine “quickly.”
Trump additionally defended Robert F. Kennedy Jr. main the Health and Human Companies. He mentioned he would let Kennedy search for hyperlinks between vaccines and autism, an unfounded conspiracy idea that Kennedy has touted for years.
“Together, we’re going to make America healthy again,” Trump mentioned. “Something bad is happening.”
Trump additionally mentioned that he wished to revive North Carolina Fort Liberty’s previous identify, Fort Bragg, named after Accomplice Basic Braxton Bragg. The identify was modified in 2023 to do away with the Accomplice that means. Trump additionally mentioned Mount Denali needs to be restored to its previous identify, Mount McKinley, named after President William McKinley.
“Woke has to stop. Because along with everything else, it’s destroying our country. We’re going to stop woke,” Trump mentioned. “Woke is bullshit.”
On the subject of TikTok, Trump mentioned he was open to protecting TikTok as a result of the social media app allowed him to succeed in younger voters.
