Elon Musk may be at the helm with President Donald Trump today, but five years ago, the tech billionaire allegedly called the president a “f***ing moron” before meeting in the Oval Office, according to Politico.
Weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020, Musk traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Trump at the White House to discuss the construction of a Tesla gigafactory.
However, before meeting with the president, an unnamed person close to Musk told Politico that they overheard the tech billionaire call Trump “a f***ing moron” behind his back while in the White House.
Musk had no warm feelings for Trump at the time; he had criticized the Republican National Committee’s decision to nominate him, as well as several of Trump’s policies on climate change and immigration. Musk even removed himself from two White House advisory councils due to disagreements.
Jonathan Swan, a New York Times reporter who has covered Trump for years, stated in an interview that before 2024, “Musk thought Trump was kind of an idiot.”
According to Politico, Musk irritated Trump on the day of their 2020 meeting by remarking that the Oval Office looked “more like an outhouse” when compared to Chinese palaces. The two allegedly had an awkward conversation about Tesla vehicles, which Trump claimed to own but had little understanding of how they worked.
However, they did appear to agree on one point: the impending Covid-19 virus, which both reportedly dismissed as a concern – a moment that would later become defining in Musk’s politics.
The account of the men’s meeting five years ago contrasts sharply with their current relationship, in which Musk is given broad unchecked authority to infiltrate federal agencies and departments and begin making drastic recommendations to reduce the federal workforce and government spending.
Musk, a “special government employee” rather than an official member of the government, has enough clout to be invited to a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to speak with secretaries who have gone through the confirmation and approval processes.
Within the last year, Musk has publicly shifted his support for Trump, donating more than $200 million to the Republican nominee.
In 2015, Musk told Vanity Fair that he was “hopeful” Trump would not win the Republican nomination as it would be “a bit embarrassing.”
It is a stark contrast from 2022, when Musk said Trump was “too old” to serve a second term and hinted that he would support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
In response, Trump shared a photo from their alleged 2020 Oval Office meeting, claiming Musk would have dropped to his knees and begged for funding for his projects if Trump had asked.
However, since then, the two men have found a lot of common ground and are now working together to remake the government.
