President-elect Donald Trump said he has not ceded the presidency to billionaire Elon Musk, calling that accusation a “hoax.”
“No, he’s not taking the presidency,” Trump said Sunday at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
“You know, they’re on a new kick,” Trump continued. “All the different hoaxes. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk. No, no, that’s not happening.”
He added that Musk couldn’t even be president because he wasn’t born in America; he was born in South Africa.
Musk’s relationship with Trump has become a concern after Trump tapped Musk to co-lead the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, an effort to cut federal spending. Musk’s role has drawn complaints considering his companies ― like Tesla, tunnel construction services company Boring Co., and rocket-launcher SpaceX ― are federally regulated. Musk also helped stop the bipartisan budget proposal this week by constantly posting about it on X, the social media platform he owns, formerly known as Twitter.
Musk’s involvement in the government has led Democrats to suggest that Musk is Trump’s “shadow president.”
“We need to face the reality: Right now, we have President Elon Musk,” Representative Dan Goldman said on Friday on MSNBC. “And Donald Trump, maybe he’s vice president. I guess vice presidents don’t do much, so that makes sense. He might be the chief of staff.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday.Along with addressing the “President Musk” accusations at the conservative conference in Phoenix, Trump also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to meet with him “as soon as possible,” and Trump wants to end the war between Russia and Ukraine “quickly.”
Trump also defended Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leading the Health and Human Services. He said he would let Kennedy look for links between vaccines and autism, an unfounded conspiracy theory that Kennedy has touted for years.
“Together, we’re going to make America healthy again,” Trump said. “Something bad is happening.”
Trump also said that he wanted to restore North Carolina Fort Liberty’s old name, Fort Bragg, named after Confederate General Braxton Bragg. The name was changed in 2023 to get rid of the Confederate meaning. Trump also said Mount Denali should be restored to its old name, Mount McKinley, named after President William McKinley.
“Woke has to stop. Because along with everything else, it’s destroying our country. We’re going to stop woke,” Trump said. “Woke is bullshit.”
On the topic of TikTok, Trump said he was open to keeping TikTok because the social media app allowed him to reach young voters.