Trump Seems Awfully Touchy About the Impression That He's Taking Orders From Elon Musk

Who's really in control? The President of the United States — or his most outspoken financial backer?

Now that multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk's deep pockets got Donald Trump reelected, some tough questions have emerged for the incoming administration.

Trump isn't laughing as Musk continues taking matters into his own hands, often giving the impression that the SpaceX CEO — rather than his septuagenarian pal — is really in charge of the upcoming White House.

Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt seemed very touchy today about the suggestion that it's Musk calling the shots.

"As soon as President Trump released his official stance on [efforts to avoid a government shutdown], Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view," she said. "President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop."

Trump has previously issued a jokesy warning to Musk not to undermine his authority too much. But the situation gained new momentum this week when Musk took to X, in a barrage of over 100 posts, to pressure lawmakers to kill a bipartisan spending bill that would avoid an imminent government shutdown.

Though he's been put in charge of a so-called Department of Government Efficiency — which will operate from outside the government and play only an advisory role — to slash the federal budget, Musk isn't an elected politician.

Yet to Democrats and Republicans alike, his repeated calls to torpedo the bill — efforts which have appeared to pay off — made it feel like he was setting the agenda, instead of Trump himself.

"President-elect Musk is really setting down the marker of how he wants to run his administration," former GOP representative Adam Kinzinger joked. "VP Trump better pay attention."

Kinzinger's comments, and many others like it, have clearly struck a nerve, as evidenced by Leavitt's statement.

Unsurprisingly, the torpedoing of the bill had plenty of lawmakers equally furious.

"Democrats and Republicans spent months negotiating a bipartisan agreement to fund our government," said senator Bernie Sanders in a statement. "The richest man on Earth, President Elon Musk, doesn’t like it. Will Republicans kiss the ring?"

Nobody really knows how this situation will pan out. Is Trump a "shadow president," operating in the pocket of the world's richest man? What other kinds of change could a furious Musk bring to the US government?

This isn't just a pointless kerfuffle amongst some extremely influential people — Musk's growing influence could have potentially incredibly harmful and destabilizing effects on how the US government is run, affecting the entire country and world.

Meanwhile, Trump loyalists in Congress are holding the line that Musk and Trump have forged a lasting relationship.

"DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency," representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted. "The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday."

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