After news of a conflict over the White House leaked, members of the President’s cabinet reshape the authority of his department to Elon Musk’s authority, Stephen K. Bannon, one of the president’s top allies, quickly piled up.
Mr. Bannon described Mr. Musk as an intruder, “parasitic illegal immigrant” and “really evil people,” and he advised the world’s wealthiest people to suppress Mr. Trump.
“I don’t want to say anchor or Lordstone,” Mr. Bannon said on his show “Warroom.” Mr. Bannon said in Friday’s performance “War Room” that was closely watched by many Trump allies, as well as the president himself. “It’s not that, but the trend – starting to affect everyone.”
The long-term animation between Mr. Bannon and Mr. Musk encapsulated at the heart of Mr. Trump makes America stand out again in a great sport. It has allowed those like Mr. Bannon to make Mr. Trump a fuller populist agenda against the super-rich interests represented by Mr. Musk, who has taken a key position in the president’s track.
Mr. Trump has made it clear that he wants to keep the two men and their allies in his movement, but Mr. Bannon disdained Mr. Musk’s voice. In mid-February, the president told Mr. Bannon that he wanted him to get rid of the attack on Mr. Musk and let the two sit down privately, according to two people familiar with the comments.
The meeting has not yet happened and it is unclear when or if it will happen.
But Mr. Trump’s efforts to mediate between two men who had not previously reported reflect the president’s awareness that Mr. Bannon has a powerful megaphone in a key part of the Maga base.
Mr. Bannon has been preaching populism since the tea party wave slowly began to remake the Republican Party. He and his assistants believe that Mr. Musk is opportunists, and there is no ideological interest in the Maga movement, they only want to promote their own interests.
But Mr. Bannon’s vision for the movement is also quite numerous critics who are aligned with right-wing nationalism, which he labels as a “badge of honor.” “Let them call you racist,” Mr. Bannon at a far-right party in France in 2018. “Let them call you Xenophobes. Let them call you a nativist.”
Mr. Musk, who has been a Trump critic for years before becoming one of his biggest benefactors, seems to have little thought about the Maga movement and its future. According to people contacted him, Mr. Musk was sometimes privately annoyed by Mr. Bannon’s attack. But he rarely interacts with Mr. Bannon. Mr. Musk posted on his social media platform X last month: “Bannon is a great speaker, but not a great man.” “What did he do this week? Nothing.”
“We do not comment on private conversations that may or may not happen. President Trump is excited about Elon Musk’s historic work, who will continue to cut waste, fraud and abuse in our federal government on behalf of the American people.”
A spokesperson for Mr. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Bannon’s attack seemed as important as anything, although his allies said he was fighting for the soul of what he believed was the magazine movement. His supporters quickly mentioned that he was a potential candidate for the 2028 presidential election, noting that he ranked second in the 2028 Republican main straw poll of the Conservative Political Action Conference last month, though well behind Vice President JD Vance.
“Steve is looking down at the pipeline,” said Raheem Kassam, chief editor of the right-wing news website National Pulse.
Mr. Cassam said: “He is studying the future and he is saying, ‘Oh no, there is an atheistic, immoral, irresponsible foreigner who is consistent with the CCP, will be head of the Maga movement at some point.”
For now, though, the Maga movement is driven by personality, focusing primarily on whatever Mr. Trump wants, regardless of the inherent contradiction. Over the past decade, Mr. Trump has led the quasi-mobility movement, many of which clash with each other by weaving a wide variety of factions and ideas.
Mr. Bannon served as chief strategist during Mr. Trump’s first term and then had a fierce split in 2017, but he was one of the most committed to lies that the 2020 election was stolen by Mr. Trump. Therefore, Mr. Bannon has credibility for Mr. Trump and some of Mr. Trump’s own supporters.
Mr. Bannon also had clear ideological differences with Mr. Musk, especially in immigration. Mr. Bannon strongly opposed Mr. Musk’s support for the H-1B visa, which enables highly skilled people to work in the United States. Mr Bannon also warned that billionaires like Mr Musk and other tech executives — many of whom support Democrats before supporting Mr Trump — would abandon the magazine movement.
“Bannon has always been a conservative in his life dyed throughout his life and he is very convinced of these core values,” said Republican strategist Barry Bennett. “He always naturally doubts people who pop up and don’t have the bloodline he has.”
Mr. Musk is in some ways a stubborn supporter of Mr. Trump, coming out of the left field.
During Mr. Trump’s first term, Mr. Musk had a list of criticisms. He privately devalued Mr. Trump’s tariff policy, his obsession with coal mines, rather than stupidity, and his difficult position on immigration. More broadly, Mr. Musk opposes those he believes have become a political tribe, according to people familiar with his comments.
In 2023, Mr. Musk said he would support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential election and then changed his mind as Desantis’s campaign struggled. Last month, Mr. Musk posted on social media that he loved Mr. Trump “like a straight man loves another man.”
In loyal magazines, both have a deep fan base. Mr. Bannon was one of the original content creators of the movement, dating back to his time overseeing Breitbart News, now through the “War Room.” Meanwhile, Mr. Musk made himself deeply attracted to the movement by transforming into X (formerly known as Twitter) into a hub of conservative activities.
“Musk is the volume button,” Mr. Bennett said. “You can talk on Twitter now, and you can attract millions of people you will reach tens of thousands of years ago. He makes it possible for us to use. There are a lot of people who are in line with the rights of the Center’s movement, and they rely heavily on the medium to distribute their content. They are very grateful to him for allowing this to happen.”
The admiration of the two was fully demonstrated at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference last month, with Mr. Musk and Mr. Bannon each receiving a zealous welcome.
“They both are popular in the conservative movement,” Mercedes Schlapp said. “They are both enthusiastically accepted in the CPAC, where they put their differences aside and really address the president’s achievements. ”
Mr. Musk made an unexpected appearance at the meeting, waving a saw and wearing a black magazine hat instead of the trademark red. (He described himself as a “dark, gothic magazine.”) In his CPAC interview, Mr. Musk admitted that he was once “political neutral” but leaned towards Democrats. He said he had turned to support “when I realized I was a fool” to eliminate culture and infringe on personal freedom.
Mr. Bannon spoke directly behind Mr. Musk, but he avoided any direct confrontation. Instead, Mr. Bannon praised Mr. Musk as “Superman”. He also noted that the history books “will not remember me, Elon Musk or Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity.”
“They will remember two things, Donald Trump and Marg, okay?” he said.
In an interview with The New York Times last month, Mr. Bannon said there was a fundamental disagreement between him and Mr. Musk.
“He is still not a populist nationalist, he is a globalist,” Mr. Bannon said of the billionaire. “The gap between him and me may be insurmountable.”
As for Mr. Musk, his intentions for the future of politics are not clear. But one thing is not: Born in South Africa, he is not eligible to run for president – a fact that Mr Trump publicly pointed out.
