President Donald Trump, whereas assembly with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba within the Oval Workplace on Friday was requested by a reporter if he had a “response” to Time journal’s new cowl that includes “Elon Musk sitting behind your Resolute Desk.” After a pointed “No” and an extended pause throughout which Trump didn’t look pleased, he lastly replied, “Is Time journal nonetheless in enterprise? I did not even know that.”
The Time cowl, in what could possibly be seen as a calculated provocation, is a part of the journal’s upcoming subject that features a deep-dive by Simon Schuster and Brian Bennett into Musk’s sweeping affect over the federal authorities. As head of the newly fashioned Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), Musk has been handed extraordinary energy to overtake the federal government in alignment with Trump’s agenda. Although, latest authorized challenges have slowed a few of Musk’s extra aggressive efforts.
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The starkly designed cowl depicts Musk, espresso in hand, flanked by the American and presidential flags in opposition to a plain crimson backdrop. The accompanying article describes Musk’s authorities overhaul as ruthless, noting that “hundreds of thousands of presidency staff discover themselves at Musk’s mercy.”
“To date, Musk seems accountable to nobody however President Trump, who handed his marketing campaign benefactor a sweeping mandate to carry the federal government consistent with his agenda,” Schuster and Bennett write. They add that DOGE declined to reply questions on its work, as a substitute referring all inquiries to the White Home, which additionally refused to remark.
This marks Musk’s second Time cowl in latest months, following a November subject that styled him as “Citizen Musk” and a political “kingmaker” within the 2024 election. Time’s back-to-back tales recommend that Musk, not Trump, could wield the true energy, an implication that would unsettle a president recognized for his want to be on the focal point.
Trump’s dismissive comment Friday belies his long-standing reverence for Time journal, the place he has been named “Particular person of the Yr” twice and regularly graced the duvet.
Since Trump’s return to workplace, Musk has been tasked with executing mass authorities layoffs paying homage to his restructuring of Twitter (now X) in 2022. Uncharacteristically for Trump, he seems to have given Musk near-total autonomy within the effort.
In the meantime, regardless of his relentless presence on X, Musk has remained conspicuously silent about his newest Time cowl—no less than for now.
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