President-elect Donald Trump dismissed claims that his high-profile billionaire ally Elon Musk is overshadowing his leadership, following a week where Musk played a key role in derailing an emergency spending measure aimed at avoiding a government shutdown. Trump called the idea that he has “ceded the presidency” to Musk a fabrication, adding that even if Musk aspired to the role, he would be ineligible due to the Constitution’s requirement that U.S. presidents must be natural-born citizens. Musk was born in South Africa.
“No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,” Trump said. “And I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country.” The president-elect’s remarks come after far-left Democrats and their sycophantic media allies have attempted to gaslight Trump with false claims that he’s not really in charge and that the X boss and SpaceX CEO is really running the show. Musk himself online has also deferred to the incoming president.
On Sunday, Trump delivered a speech lasting over an hour at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, where thousands of enthusiastic conservative activists greeted him with roaring applause as he took the stage amidst a dazzling pyrotechnic display. The event marked his first rally-style appearance since the election. “The golden age of America is upon us,” Trump said.
In his remarks, Trump claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is eager to meet with him “as soon as possible” and called for an immediate end to the “horrible” war between Russia and Ukraine. During the campaign, Trump vowed to bring a swift resolution to the conflict, leveraging what he described as his strong relationships with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Shifting to another foreign policy issue, Trump reiterated a warning he made on social media Saturday, criticizing Panama for imposing excessive fees on vessels using the Panama Canal, the critical passageway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. If Panama refuses to cooperate, Trump stated he would demand the return of control over the canal, which the U.S. gave up under a treaty signed by then-President Jimmy Carter in 1977. “We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else,” Trump said.
