Elon Musk speaks as US President Donald Trump looks on in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2025. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead federal cost-cutting efforts, said the United States would go “bankrupt” without budget cuts. Musk leads the efforts under the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and was speaking at the White House with Trump, who has in recent weeks unleashed a flurry of orders aimed at slashing federal spending. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump has mocked what he said were media depictions of Elon Musk as the real power in the White House, saying attempts to drive a wedge between himself and the tech billionaire have failed.
“They do it all the time,” the US president says in excerpts posted Saturday from a Fox News interview to be aired Tuesday.
Article continues after this advertisementSpeaking as if in a news anchor’s voice, Trump went on, “We have breaking news: Donald Trump has ceded control of the presidency to Elon Musk. President Musk will be attending a cabinet meeting tonight…”
FEATURED STORIES GLOBALNATION Pope Francis slept well, reading papers in hospital: Vatican GLOBALNATION Anger, confusion as US federal workers face more layoffs GLOBALNATION Exercises ‘purely defensive,’ US says of drills with PHThe Republican president is famously prickly about being outshone by anyone in his entourage, and there has been widespread speculation that Musk’s high profile could lead to his downfall.
The South African-born Musk, while nominally just the head of a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), has taken on extraordinarily broad powers in identifying what he says are areas of waste and then moving quickly to cut jobs and spending.
Article continues after this advertisementThose moves by the world’s wealthiest person have drawn jibes in the press, including a Time magazine cover showing Musk sitting behind the president’s iconic Resolute Desk, and a New Yorker cover showing both Trump and Musk, hands on a Bible, together taking the presidential oath of office.
free slot playArticle continues after this advertisementTrump so far has been publicly supportive of Musk’s work, which the president says is vitally important at a time of soaring budget deficits.
Article continues after this advertisementIn the Fox interview, Trump said he and Musk had discussed the media mockery.
In an interview with Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon on Tuesday, DTI Undersecretary Allan Gepty said the market share of fresh bananas in South Korea dropped to 65 percent in 2023 from a high of 98 percent in 2013.
Happening at Solaire Resort North in Quezon City, the PINSCF will gather local and foreign stakeholders to discuss the latest technology and innovations, as well as share best practices in the nuclear energy industry.
“Actually, Elon called me,” the president said. “He said, ‘You know, they’re trying to drive us apart.’ I said, ‘Absolutely.'”
Article continues after this advertisementTrump added that Americans understood what the media allegedly were up to.
“I used to think they were good at it,” Trump said. “They’re actually bad at it, because if they were good at it, I’d never be president.”
“The people are smart,” he went on. “They get it.”
Amid all the criticism, Musk has continued to draw an intense media focus, including in an Oval Office appearance in which a casually dressed Musk brought his four-year-old son and spoke at greater length than the president.
Democrats have seized on the at times awkward dynamic, and opinion polls show negative views of the Tesla and SpaceX boss clearly outpacing positive ones.
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But Trump, meantimejilimacao, is enjoying some of his highest approval ratings ever.
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