Will Elon Musk Be De Facto US President? Check Donald Trump’s Reaction

New York: Elon Musk has emerged as a key man in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, which will take charge on January 20, 2025.

The tech billionaire’s generous support and heavy funding of Trump’s Presidential campaign was richly rewarded after the latter won the November election. Musk was named to jointly head the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk’s importance in Trump’s scheme of things was very obvious, leading many to wonder whether the Tesla, SpaceX CEO would actually be the brain behind the Trump administration.

Many coined the term ‘President Musk’.

How does Trump respond to such talk?

Well, the President-elect, who will moving into White House within a month’s time for his second term, made it clear that the world’s richest person is not going to be US President.

“We will create a new department of government efficiency headed by Elon Musk. And no, he’s not taking the presidency. They (Democrats) are on a new kick. Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine… All the different hoaxes. And the new one is — President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk. No, no, that’s not happening. But Elon’s done an amazing job. Isn’t it nice to have smart people that we can rely on? He has a great job,” Trump said at a Republican conference on Sunday.

He pointed out that US rule dictates that only a person born in the country can become the President.

“He’s not gonna be president, that I can tell you. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country,” Trump stressed.

“No, no that’s not happening,” Trump went on to assure the crowd.

The 53-year-old Musk holds American citizenship, but was born in Pretoria, South Africa.

Trump’s clarification hardly disappointed Musk. On the contrary, Musk reacted by posting that Trump is “awesome”.