Trump Team Reportedly Getting Fed Up With Elon Musk's Weird Behavior

Musk is "behaving as if he’s a co-president."

White House Down 

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk and president-elect Donald Trump became inseparable toward the end of the election — but as the bromance deepens, Trump's team is reportedly growing wary.

Musk is "behaving as if he’s a co-president and making sure everyone knows it," one person familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Just last night, Trump announced that Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy would helm the new Department of Government Efficiency — or, um, "DOGE" for short. The mortifying acronym represents "'The Manhattan Project' of our time," Trump's statement purports, underscoring Musk's apparent sway in the upcoming administration.

Love at First Fight

Whether the mind-meld between Trump and Musk will last is up for debate. Tech guru Kara Swisher predicted this week that the duo are likely to have a falling out, "because they're both really strong personalities who like to be the center of attention."

If Trump does eventually ditch Musk, it wouldn't be without precedent; he flamed out with an epic proportion of his own cabinet during his first term, and even publicly battled Musk before making up during the most recent election.

In some ways, the two have a lot in common. Both Trump and Musk are fond of spreading conspiracy theories online, and are engaged in many of the same far-right culture wars around immigration, gender identity and the economy. In other domains, though, their allyship seems more tenuous: Musk remains the CEO of Tesla, for instance, while Trump is a longtime foe of electric vehicles. 

Any potential rift between the two is likely to be more emotional than factual, though. If there's one thing neither man can stand, it's other people getting credit for what they consider to be their own accomplishments.

"He’s sure taking lots of credit for the president’s victory," NBC's source continued, speaking of Musk. "Bragging about America PAC and X to anyone who will listen. He’s trying to make President Trump feel indebted to him. And the president is indebted to no one." 

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