TOM LEONARD: Amid all the talk about President Musk, is Donald Trump already tiring of his First Buddy?

As he leapt onto the stage and jumped into the air with his arms outstretched, Elon Musk looked like a man who had just won the lottery.

Donald Trump had first asked him to stand on stage with him last October at an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania – the town where the ex-president had narrowly survived an assassin’s bullet a few months earlier.

“He really is an incredible guy – and I don’t say that very often,” Trump declared of the tycoon who had poured a whopping £211 million into his second presidential campaign.

‘As you can see, I’m not just Maga [Make America Great Again]“I’m a dark Maga,” Musk told the cheering crowd as he pointed to his Trump cap – not the usual red one, but black.

It was clearly a joke, but since then his critics might say that a truer word for the joke has never been spoken, as Musk has behaved even more belligerently and wildly than Trump himself.

The erratic Musk has picked fights with politicians around the world – from Republicans in Washington over government spending to European governments, most notably Keir Starmer over the grooming gang scandal in northern England and also Germany over immigration and crime.

Less than two weeks before Trump is sworn in, Musk has effectively hijacked his presidency and captured the world’s attention with his endless outbursts on X, his social media platform on which he has 211 million followers.

But has the ebullient tech mogul, who tweets all night long while running a string of global companies, already overplayed his hand and risked killing his “bromance” with the president-elect before the second term has even begun? That intriguing possibility has now been raised by Trump biographer and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.

Haberman, dubbed the ‘Trump Whisperer’ because of her deep connections in The Donald’s court, claims to have been told that Trump is already tired of the company of the richest man in the world.

Just two years ago, Musk said he wished Trump would “hang up his hat and sail off into the sunset.” But Haberman says she is not surprised that Musk has ensconced himself in the heart of Trump’s inner circle, given that he has “an enormous amount of money that he has deployed to help Trump” and “Trump equates wealth with intelligence.”

However, speaking to the On With Kara Swisher podcast series, Haberman added, “How long it lasts, I think, is the open question. An old friend of Trump’s recently said something to me about how Trump is a “one-ring circus.” I’m not sure Musk has figured that out yet. And Trump complains a bit to people that Musk is around a lot.’

Musk is particularly ‘in the area’ because since the November election he has rented a ‘cottage’ – which normally costs at least £1,600 a night – on the grounds of Trump’s main home, his private club Mar-a-Lago. in Palm Beach, Florida. As a result, he is just a few hundred yards from the mansion in which Trump is forming his next administration.

Musk has been able to attend meetings and dinners with the newly elected president, such as the one he recently held with Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos, and participate in his phone calls.

Haberman said that by moving into the Mar-a-Lago complex, Musk had “parked himself in Trump’s face.”

She added that Democrats’ taunts about “President Musk” and the nomination of Trump’s First Lady “Elonia” are increasingly inflaming the 78-year-old. ‘It certainly bothers him. The phrase ‘President Musk’ was always going to be a way to get him,” she said.

‘Trump is not a wind-up toy, but there are certainly very specific things that can happen [infuriate] it.’

She also noted that Musk “seems to have been more willing to irritate Trump than many others — and less concerned about what it might mean.”

Trump insiders have said much the same to news website Mediaite, claiming the newly elected president was fed up with Musk’s “ubiquity” and the attention he attracted.

“100 percent, Trump is irritated,” said a source who worked on the 2024 election campaign. ‘There is a Chinese saying: ‘Two tigers cannot live on one mountain peak.’

Another insider said: “Someone who’s around so much and has influence would be difficult… I mean, the guy came in, gave a bunch of money and wants to take over.”

It’s worth noting that Musk has made quite a few enemies in the Trump camp with his reportedly aggressive behavior towards them, so there may be a strong element of wishful thinking that he is on his way out.

At this time, there is no public sign of a rift. Trump has asked Musk (along with fellow conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy) to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, although skeptics point out that only Congress can create new federal agencies and that this is unlikely to happen. department will be eliminated. ground.

That could give Trump the perfect excuse to avoid his “First Buddy” – as the tycoon calls himself – although Musk could always ask for something else.

Although opponents complain that he has never been elected to public office (and thus should not be given a major post now), neither had Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner when the ambitious young real estate developer was put in charge of running the US. efforts to bring peace to the Middle East during his first term.

Experts predict that Musk will want to stay as physically close to Trump as possible – which will mean an office on the White House campus from January 20. And if not, at least make sure you have one of the valuable all-access security passes that Trump handed out to favorite cronies during his first term and allowed Musk to roam the White House at will.

Haberman doesn’t believe Musk will get the office or the pass — he has too many enemies and Trump insiders especially don’t want him “running around like this,” she says.

But at the same time, she acknowledges that Trump has traditionally been slow to let go of people who have been useful to him, rarely banning anyone completely.

Some even argue that Trump cannot afford to antagonize Musk. That’s not just because of his vast wealth – and willingness to pour it into politics – or his ownership of the social media platform that remains the most powerful communication channel in the US.

America has become increasingly dependent – ​​some say too dependent – ​​on Musk companies. The 53-year-old, who is worth an estimated £340 billion, controls the Starlink satellite network which plays a crucial defense role and on which the Ukrainian military depends for internet coverage.

NASA needs Musk’s SpaceX rockets to get American equipment and astronauts into space. After accepting his shilling and allowing him into the gang, Trump — who knows how to hold grudges as well as he does — may find it difficult to shrug. There will certainly be many in Whitehall and other European governments who sincerely hope that Trump reins him in – and soon.

Some Washington experts say this will certainly happen. While it may be fine to drop in on the newly elected president at Mar-a-Lago, this becomes a lot more difficult once he becomes Leader of the Free World.

Insiders claim that if and when Musk officially becomes part of the next Trump administration, he will have to adhere to the usual restrictions on presidential officials.

However, Musk is not very good at restraint, while Trump is not very good at following the rules. And neither man, alike in more ways than just their enormous selfishness, likes to share the stage.

As Americans face one of the most unpredictable presidencies in living memory, they can at least reassure themselves of one certainty. Musk was born in South Africa to non-American parents. According to the Constitution, Musk is not allowed to run for president.