Elon Musk may already be overstaying his welcome in Trump’s orbit

Tech billionaire Elon Musk scored a big win Tuesday night when President-elect Donald Trump announced that the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive would lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” along with Vivek Ramaswamy.

The announcement reinforces the closeness that Musk has managed to achieve with Trump, even after the election. But for some people in Trump’s orbit, Musk’s presence has felt overbearing.

Musk has been so aggressive in advancing his views on Trump’s second term that he is stepping on Trump’s transition team’s toes and may be overstaying his welcome at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people familiar with the transition who have spent time Palm Beach, Florida, resort over the past week.

The sources said Musk’s near-constant presence at Mar-a-Lago in the week since Election Day had begun to wear on people who have been in Trump’s inner circle longer than the tech billionaire, who see him as overstepping his role in transition. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.

“He acts like he’s a co-president and makes sure everyone knows it,” one of the people said of Musk.

“And he’s sure to take a lot of credit for the president’s victory. Bragging about America PAC and X to anyone who will listen. He’s trying to make President Trump indebted to him. And the president is indebted to no one, ” this person added.

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

In a statement, Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “Elon Musk and President Trump are great friends and brilliant leaders working together to make America great again. Elon Musk is a once-in-a-generation business leader, and our federal bureaucracies will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency.”

In a separate statement, a separate Trump-Vance spokeswoman, Anna Kelly, said, “Elon Musk is a genius, an innovator, and has literally made history by building creative, modern and efficient systems. Elon Musk has dedicated himself to America’s future by offer to serve with President Trump to ensure that our government works more efficiently and spends America’s taxpayer dollars effectively.”

Musk traveled to Mar-a-Lago to watch the election returns come in last Tuesday night and has been there for much of the past week, the two sources said. They said Musk is there all the time, sitting with Trump and participating in calls and meetings.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been involved in sensitive conversations even before his role in the administration was announced, including briefly participating in a phone call last week between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The second person said Musk has an “opinion about everything” and that he shares them so strongly that he’s started pestering Trump insiders.

“He wants to be seen as having an impact on everything (even though he doesn’t),” this source said.

The person said some Trump advisers said they were concerned that Musk did not understand one key to being effective in Trump’s world: keeping a low profile. Musk’s engagement has been overly aggressive and could hurt his position in the long run, the source said.

The second source also said Musk appeared to be pushing his own agenda rather than focusing on Trump’s. They said that while Musk is clearly a smart and capable person, the transition is about ensuring that those loyal to Trump will be the ones carrying out government policies.

“Appointing people because they’re loyal to Elon doesn’t work,” the source said.

In a meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday morning, Trump spoke fondly of Musk, according to two lawmakers in the room, praising Musk for his time and dedication to the election. Trump said Musk put aside his own business interests for the campaign and asked for nothing in return. At one point during the meeting, Trump joked about Musk’s continued presence in his orbit, saying, “Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him.” Lawmakers insisted the statements were made in jest.

Musk has been among Trump’s most energetic supporters. His super PAC spent more than 152 million dollars to elect Trump and other Republican candidates, with much of the money coming from Musk himself. He held rallies for Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, offered $1 million in daily gifts to registered voters and turned his social media app X into a Trump megaphone.

In posts on X over the past week, Musk has pushed various policy ideas, including deporting immigrants and cutting government spending.

“Very productive day of work by the transition team,” Musk submitted Monday night, in a response to Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, one of the two advisors leading the transition.

Musk has also shared photos from Mar-a-Lago, including one photo with him and the extended Trump family. On Sunday, one of Trump’s grandchildren, Kai Trump, came posted a picture on X of himself with Musk, writing that Musk “achieved uncle status.”