Steve Bannon has weighed in on the escalating clash between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who until just a few weeks ago was one of the MAGA leader’s main supporters.
On Thursday, harsh words were exchanged between the two, with the richest man in the world harshly criticizing the federal budget law so dear to Trump, also accusing him of being in “Epstein’s files.” In response, the president threatened to terminate all federal contracts with Musk and his companies.
Bannon, Trump’s former senior counselor and a long-time critic of Elon, did not miss the opportunity to weigh in on the matter, suggesting that the MAGA leader launch several investigations against Musk. “They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status, because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,” Mr. Bannon said.
Musk, head of giant enterprises like Tesla, SpaceX, and artificial intelligence start-up xAI–as well as owner of social network X–left the White House last week and his position as secretary of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose task was to reduce public spending.
As reported by the New York Times, over the years, the companies owned by the world’s richest man have received several billion dollars in federal contracts. For this reason, among others, Bannon suggested that Trump immediately terminate the agreements signed with Musk’s various companies. But that’s not all. The former senior counselor to the president said that the alleged drug use by the South African-born entrepreneur should also be investigated.
Bannon has long considered Musk a suspicious character, particularly unreliable, belonging to a class of tech billionaires who approached Trump solely for personal gain and ambition, and who never truly belonged to the “America First” movement. “I think MAGA is now seeing exactly what he was”, he added. “I’m just saying, ‘Hey, I told you’ — knew this was gonna happen, folks. Not a hard one.”
For Bannon, two reasons in particular led to the sudden rift between the two. First, Musk’s decision to target the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, second, according to the MAGA strategist, after investing $250 million in the last election campaign, Elon thought he could exert greater influence over the US president. Things, however, turned out differently.
“He’s not being constructive and he’s being destructive. He’s made this a personal vendetta against the president of the United States because the president dismissed him,” Bannon snapped.
