Musk’s intervention helped derail a crucial government funding bill, but some political observers question how long the alliance can last

Donald Trump has moved to quash speculation about Elon Musk’s outsized influence in Republican politics, insisting at a conservative gathering that the tech billionaire would not usurp his authority as incoming president.

“No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,” Trump told cheering supporters at the Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix on Sunday. “And I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country.”