Bannon Kicks Musk On The Drugged Up South African Nazi Billionaire's Way Out The Door

Will Midterm Voters Remember Musk's Devastation Next Year At The Polls?

Bannon refers to Musk as a “parasitic illegal immigrant”

Everyone knows that Bannon is MAGA’s top Musk-hater. He first publicly predicted that Musk wouldn’t last long in the White House on January 12th in an interview with Corriere della Sera: “I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day,” and vowed to ensure Musk would not have full access to the White House. This marked the initial public escalation of Bannon’s campaign against Musk’s influence over Trump. Last week Bannon was peddling a new, more dramatic version of an old story that Musk was pushed out of the White House because the drug-addled asshole got violent and physical in an argument with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “The revelations of the Musk-Bessant clash,” reported Will Potter, “follow an explosive New York Times report that alleged Musk’s using a cocktail of drugs on the campaign trail including ketamine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. Bannon added that Musk also lost status in Trump's orbit when it was leaked to the New York Times in March that the billionaire was preparing to receive top-secret military briefings on China, which Trump abruptly stopped. The former chief strategist in Trump's first administration said the mounting issues with DOGE and the China briefings led to Musk losing face in the White House. ‘The president backed (Bessent) just like the president didn't allow the briefing on China,’ Bannon said. ‘People in the administration and the White House realized he didn't have any idea what he's doing. They cauterized the damage.’ Bannon said the president's decision to block Musk from receiving briefings on China ‘made (Musk) realize that Trump was going to back his cabinet. That's the inflection point, you see Elon all changed from that moment.’… Bannon said Musk's alleged shortcomings with DOGE were exacerbated when Trump gave his State of the Union address earlier this year, when the president listed millions of allegedly fraudulent Social Security recipients aged over 100.  While Musk claimed to have uncovered a scandal, it was alleged that these were primarily due to an accounting error, and no significant money was sent to these recipients. ‘Not one penny was ever shown to have been sent to these people,’ Bannon said. ‘Is anyone trying to talk to Elon now? No.’”

Bannon’s intense animosity toward Musk stems from a mix of ideological, political and personal factors, rooted in their conflicting visions for the MAGA movement and their roles in Trump’s orbit. Bannon, a self-styled populist and nationalist, views Musk as a globalist whose actions undermine the America First agenda. Bannon has criticized Musk’s business ties to China, particularly Tesla’s reliance on Chinese manufacturing and markets, calling him a “kleptocrat” who profits from “Chinese slave labor.” He sees Musk’s libertarian-leaning tech optimism, including his push for deregulation and innovation, as misaligned with the protectionist, working-class focus of MAGA.

On top of that the two are competing for influence over the administration. Musk’s appointment as leader of DOGE drove Bannon insane, who interpreted it as a threat to his own standing. He accused Musk of trying to install a “MAGA-INO” (MAGA In Name Only) agenda, suggesting on his podcast that Musk is co-opting Trump’s platform for personal gain. He framed Musk’s influence as a betrayal of true MAGA loyalists, rallying his base against Musk by branding him a “Manchurian candidate” for globalist interests.

Bannon has a history of targeting figures he sees as outsiders or elites. Musk, a billionaire with a cosmopolitan background and eclectic public persona, embodies traits Bannon disdains. Bannon’s rhetoric, including calling Musk a “fucking moron” and mocking his H-1B visa advocacy, reflects a personal contempt/jealousy for Musk’s wealth, influence, and perceived disconnect from the working-class MAGA base. A flashpoint was Musk’s defense of the H-1B visa program, which allows skilled foreign workers into the U.S. Bannon, aligning with xenophobic anti-immigration hardliners, denounced Musk’s stance as prioritizing corporate interests over American workers and the dispute erupted publicly in late December 2024, when Bannon and allies like psychopath Laura Loomer attacked Musk on Twitter, accusing him of undermining Trump’s immigration policies.

By framing Musk as a traitor to MAGA, Bannon energizes his own podcast audience, positioning himself as the movement’s ideological gatekeeper. His history of targeting perceived enemies— Jared Kushner in the first term— show a pattern of using public feuds to consolidate power. While his rhetoric is hyperbolic, it reflects genuine tensions. Musk’s extreme wealth, proximity to Trump and bizarre persona, made him a natural target for Bannon, who thrives on populist outrage. It didn’t help when Musk blithely dismissed Bannon as a “bitter has-been.” 

Yesterday, Josh Dawsey, Annie Linskey and Dana Mattioli tried explaining the complicated relationship between Musk and Señor Trumpanzyy. They wrote that there have been “flashes of skepticism and frustration from Trump and his senior aides over Musk’s rocky four-month tenure in government, with spats spilling out in the Middle East, cabinet meetings and occasionally in the Oval Office, according to people familiar with the matter. And they reflected the broader exasperation over roadblocks that have slowed Musk’s efforts, from court challenges to bureaucratic delays. Trump continues to maintain a fondness for Musk and plans to see him in the future (they had dinner last week). He asked aides to organize a friendly farewell on Friday in the Oval Office, where the two men heaped praise on one another... [though] Musk sometimes confuses Trump with his eccentric humor.” Bannon was not invited.

On Friday Trump said that “Elon is not really leaving. He’s going to be back and forth.” Dawsey, Linskey and Mattioli wrote that “The relationship— for a time— had been among the most consequential in modern American politics. Musk spent nearly $300 million to get Trump elected, helping clinch his return to the White House. And Trump gave Musk unprecedented access to the government, granting him far-reaching authority over the vast federal bureaucracy on the promise that he could reshape it.” We’ll be hearing a lot more about that once the Democrats regain control of Congress.

The most recent blowup between Musk and the White House occurred 7,000 miles away from Washington. Musk became so incensed by a deal led by his rival Sam Altman of OpenAI— and its planned rollout on a presidential trip— that he complained to at least three White House officials, leading them to get Trump involved. 

The president’s schedule was rearranged to appease Musk. Trump had planned to speak about the deal on the trip, along with Altman and other officials, according to people familiar with the matter. But to calm Musk, the announcement was pushed back by a week, the people said, and Altman didn’t appear at a public event with Trump.

Meanwhile, Musk has been feeling blowback from his government service. “I have to get some heat off me and my companies,” Musk has said privately, according to senior administration officials, describing his rationale for leaving the government. He has been rocked by plummeting sales at Tesla, which saw its net income slide by 71% in the first quarter, and a series of setbacks at SpaceX, where just this week a rocket exploded. 

In a cabinet meeting earlier this spring, Musk stood up and told assembled cabinet secretaries and other senior officials that they had no idea how much damage was being done to his cars and how difficult his business situation was, people who attended say. The remarks caught officials by surprise. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Musk she would prosecute every criminal they could catch. 

Musk has told White House aides he will support the president politically in the future, but Trump’s advisers said the $100 million check he vowed to the president’s political-action committee hasn’t arrived. Musk, for his part, at times accused some in the White House of not being as committed as he was to changing Washington.

Trump’s advisers described a whirlwind ride with the world’s richest man, who occasionally slept at the White House, regularly sent late-night messages and often surprised senior administration officials with his decisions— and his public and private comments. 

Musk clashed with senior White House officials, as he made dramatic government cuts without consulting others, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and senior officials in the communications office, aides said. For several weeks, top Trump aides regularly learned from news reports or cabinet secretaries what DOGE was doing— even when the cost-cutting department laid off hundreds of people or sought sensitive data from agencies, according to the aides. He also clashed with personnel aides over vetting of some of his staff, some of the people said, believing the White House shouldn’t control his team at DOGE. 

Tension with Trump’s staff escalated to the point that Trump got involved and asked Wiles to play a more hands-on role  managing Musk, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Senior White House officials urged Musk and his team to tell them what he would be doing so they could message and defend it. Musk at times told staff they didn’t need to know everything about his plans. Eventually, Musk agreed to have regular meetings with Wiles. 

Trump and his advisers were frustrated when Musk attacked Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) as a “deep state puppet” in a February social-media post. Trump advisers had worked for days to get Young to vote for Tulsi Gabbard as his nominee to be the director of national intelligence— and believed he was going to vote yes. Vice President JD Vance, serving as peacemaker, called Musk and asked him to tone it down, and Musk took down the post. Then, White House officials “picked up the pieces,” a Trump adviser said.

White House aides were also dismayed at how involved Musk became in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, because they believed Brad Schimel, who was backed by Musk and the state’s Republican party, wasn’t going to win, and the race was becoming a referendum on Musk and Trump.

Musk was dismissive of those concerns, saying the polling he commissioned showed Schimel had a chance. Trump became annoyed after doing a town hall with Schimel, telling advisers that he was done with him because Schimel couldn’t answer questions cogently about abortion, according to people familiar with the matter. Schimel lost overwhelmingly. 

Trump disliked how critical Musk was toward cabinet secretaries and his public attacks on trade adviser Peter Navarro, whom Musk called a “moron” and said was “dumber than a sack of bricks.” White House officials said Trump was surprised at how nasty Musk was in one cabinet meeting toward other members of his administration. 

White House aides came to resent Katie Miller, Musk’s top aide, who regularly said she spoke for Musk. Musk was particularly tight with Stephen and Katie Miller, socializing with the couple outside of work. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told White House officials he needed control of his agency after Musk made drastic cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development without conferring with others, a White House official said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy clashed with Musk over air-traffic controllers, White House aides said.

Behind the scenes, Musk was animated about Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, telling staff they would be terrible for the global economy.

Musk called top business executives, White House officials said, and urged them to talk to Trump and explain how misguided the tariffs were. He lobbied against the tariffs to some of Trump’s advisers and complained that Trump was getting bad advice, according to a person who spoke to him. Trump advisers told Musk that Trump believed in the tariffs and wasn’t going to change course. 

…In recent weeks, Musk continued to frustrate White House officials with cuts at the Health and Human Services Department that some in the West Wing disagreed with— and with public attacks on the congressional tax bill. But Trump was less angry than some of his advisers about Musk’s attacks on the tax bill, officials said. 

Musk spent less time at the White House in the final stretch of his tenure. At first, he was in the White House five or even seven days a week, people familiar with the matter said. Then, three days. By the end, he was there only occasionally, the people said. 

In the Oval Office on Friday, Musk stood next to Trump, at times with his arms folded, and with a bruise around his eye. “Government’s a little nasty on occasion,” Trump said.

Billionaire and Musk crony, Jared Issacman, Trump’s nominee to run NASA, had already been approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee (19-9) and was about to go to the floor for a full confirmation vote. And then, on Friday Trump suddenly decided to pull the nomination, a very serious slap in Musk’s face since Musk was adamant that he have one of his people in charge of the decision-making that will impact SpaceX.

Natalie Allison reported that Trump and Musk tried smoothing over their threatened rift, with many of Trump’s closest advisors “happy to give him a send-off” Friday.

Allison wrote that “Musk had already appeared to fall out of favor with the president and his top advisers, a notion supported by his diminished public role in the administration during the past month. His presence on Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East was muted. During an Oval Office meeting last week with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Musk stood quietly in the room as Trump grilled the president on unfounded claims of ‘genocide’ against White farmers— an issue on which Musk has been outspoken. His criticisms of various Trump policies during the past month, including the president’s signature tariff plan and the sweeping legislation Trump has endorsed to cut taxes and reduce some government programs, seemed to further add to a rift between the president and the man who previously called himself the ‘first buddy.’ On Friday, however, the two avoided any mention of friction. Musk, wearing a shirt that read ‘The Dogefather,’ repeatedly used the phrase ‘friend and adviser’ to describe his role with Trump moving forward, declining to elaborate on how involved he would continue to be with the U.S. DOGE Service that he created. ‘Certainly if there’s anything the president wants me to do, I’m at the president’s service,’ Musk said.”

If he meant it, he could hand over the promised $100 million check to MAGA, Inc. His money was all that Trump really ever wanted from him to begin with. “After emerging as a top donor to the president’s campaign— leveraging his influence into a friendship with near-constant access to Trump throughout the post-election transition period— Musk positioned himself as Trump’s righthand policy adviser. Not only would he help cut regulations for businesses like his own, Musk said, but find significant cost savings inside a government he described as being rife with fraudulent and wasteful spending. But plans by the world’s richest man to find $2 trillion, then $1 trillion in cuts— a task he said he would accomplish with a team of young computer programmers and other allies— did not come to fruition. DOGE has fallen far short of that goal, even according to the group’s own data, which has often proven inaccurate and exaggerated.”

Public polling, meanwhile, found that Musk’s favorability rating dropped during his time in Washington.

Friday, after Musk spoke about his work to end wasteful government spending, Trump gave him his parting gift. Musk looked up and admired the plaster on the ceiling, which Trump said was 24-karat gold.

“I think that the way that the Oval Office, how the president has just completely redone the Oval Office, is beautiful,” Musk said. “I love the gold on the ceiling.”

When the Blue Wave sweeps dozens of Republicans out of Congress in 2026, Trump won’t want to be blamed and in Musk he has the perfect fall guy. For what’s even more appalling than Trump’s eager subservience to Musk is the cowardly complicity of Republicans in Congress, who have enabled this madness every step of the way. Is it hard to believe that these are the same Republicans who once claimed to stand for limited government, who waxed poetic about checks and balances, who wrapped themselves in the Constitution like it was sacred scripture? Now we see them standing by— silent, spineless— as Trump auctions off the levers of power to the highest bidder. They didn’t just look the other way while Musk was handed backdoor influence over federal agencies; they cheered it on, mistaking authoritarian cronyism for “innovation.”

Where was the oversight? Do we have to wait for Democrats to flip Congress before there are even hearings? House Republicans couldn’t subpoena Hunter Biden fast enough, but they’re too terrified to ask why a private citizen like Musk is shaping national security policy from his private jet. They’ve ceded their constitutional duty to a would-be autocrat and tech oligarch cronies who bribe him, and in doing so, they’ve turned Congress into a rubber stamp for the whims of the rich and unaccountable. 

Trump’s “government by grievance” only works because congressional Republicans have abandoned the idea of governing altogether. From MAGA Mike and Steve Scalise, right down the food chain, they’ve become enablers of an executive branch run like a personal business venture, where loyalty is rewarded with contracts, policy is dictated by donors and the national interest is always secondary to Trump's ego and his and Musk’s personal business portfolios.

When Democrats flip Congress a year from November, they won’t just have a mandate to roll back Trumpism, they’ll have a moral obligation to investigate— starting with Musk— how deeply this rot has spread. The American people deserve to know exactly how much of their government was quietly sold off to the highest bidder while Republicans played court jesters to a would-be monarch.