Elon Musk will reportedly be provided office space in the White House complex for his upcoming job as co-director of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but President-elect Donald Trump It is not a wall-to-wall confrontation.
The New York Times reported, citing two sources briefed on the plan, that Musk will set up camp in the Eisenhower Executive Office, a separate building adjacent to the White House. It’s not yet clear whether Mr. Musk’s DOGE partner, Vivek Ramaswamy, will also have an office in the Eisenhower Building.
According to the paper, Musk’s DOGE efforts are aimed at reducing government spending in the incoming Trump administration, and he is currently working out of SpaceX’s Washington, D.C., office.
The billionaire has also reportedly discussed access to the West Wing with transition officials, but the issue remains unclear, two people familiar with the matter told The Times. That’s what it means. Anyone who can freely enter and leave the West Wing typically requires a special pass.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets Elon Musk as he arrives to watch the launch of the SpaceX Starship rocket’s sixth test flight in Brownsville, Texas, on November 19, 2024. /Brandon Bell/Brandon Bell/Getty Images
While Musk increasingly seeks to remain close to Trump, New York Times reporter and “Trump Whisperer” Maggie Haberman previously talked about high-tech topics on the Jan. 6 episode of the podcast “On.” He told reporter Carla Swisher that the president-elect is dissatisfied. Talk to people about “how masks are common.”
“Mr. Trump has been complaining a little bit to people about how things are around Mr. Musk,” Haberman said. “He really put himself in Trump’s face.” In addition to donating millions of dollars to his campaign, Musk has positioned himself as Trump’s sidekick over the past few months, attending several public meetings. in attendance and living in one of the cottages available for rent on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property.
“I don’t expect Mr. Musk to have an office in the West Wing,” Haberman added, pointing to how difficult it would be for the tech mogul to maintain Mar-a-Lago-level intimacy in the White House. pointed out. . “I don’t even know if he has a blue pass to walk around with.”
A self-proclaimed Trump expert wrote in X magazine in 2016 that a “key part” of understanding Trump was that he was “often at the mercy of the last person he spoke to.”
Musk’s relationship with Trump was already on ice after his success in blocking government spending bills earned him the title “President Musk” from Democrats and internet insiders (and later incited a MAGA civil war). It is said.
“The ‘President Mask’ line was always a way to get him. Trump is not a toy, but there are certainly very specific things that excite him,” Haberman added during the podcast appearance. Ta. “I don’t know if Mr. Musk has figured it out yet.”
