Elon Musk’s photo on the cover of Time Magazine could have serious implications with his relationship with Donald Trump. The outlet posted a photo of the cover to X, formerly Twitter, which showed Musk sitting at the Oval Office’s Resolute Desk, implying that the tech billionaire was running the White House. And now, there’s speculation that this could cause a rift between the pair.
Time’s cover story detailed how Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was reshaping and shaking up the bureaucracy in Washington. It’s interesting to note one quote from POTUS that the publication included about Musk’s powers within the administration. “Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval. And we will give him the approval where appropriate, and where not appropriate we won’t,” Trump told the press, just days before the Time cover went public. Not only did the cover appear to undercut Trump’s executive powers at the White House, but the timing may have irked the president. In December 2024, Trump was named Time’s Person of the Year. In the write-up, the outlet described him as “the world’s most powerful man,” but the Musk cover seemed to imply otherwise. “President Trump hates it when his people upstage him, and he views the cover of Time as the ultimate barometer of prestige,” CNBC correspondent Eamon Javers wrote on X.
TIME’s new cover: Inside Elon Musk’s war on Washington https://t.co/95Qictx4zP pic.twitter.com/QZ73CZqtnM
— TIME (@TIME) February 7, 2025
Worries about Trump being jealous over Musk’s cover were not unfounded. The same day that the Musk cover was revealed, a reporter asked Trump for his reaction on the piece. “Is Time magazine still in business? I didn’t even know that,” he flippantly replied. Besides the cover fiasco, there had previously been several signs that Trump was trying to ice Musk out of his inner circle.
Donald Trump has tried to curtail Elon Musk’s power
There had been a lot of chatter about the power Elon Musk wielded at the White House prior to the Time cover being published. The New York Times reported indicated that Donald Trump was not calling the shots for the world’s richest man. A Trump official reportedly told the outlet Musk had an unbelievable amount of autonomy in his role. Also, it appears that the two were not on the same page on hiring practices, as Musk wanted to hire Turkish venture capitalist Baris Akis for DOGE. However, The Atlantic reported Trump’s team came in and axed that proposition. A source told the outlet that hiring a non-U.S. citizen on the political oversight committee could send a “confusing message” that ran counter to Trump’s political platform.
This isn’t the first instance of Trump trying to keep Musk in line. In January 2024, Trump seemed to openly snub Musk after the inauguration. Reporters asked the Commander in Chief if Musk would be setting up shop in the West Wing. “No. He’s getting an office for about 20 people that we’re hiring to make sure these (executive orders) get implemented,” Trump responded, per The Independent.
Prior to that, Trump hinted that he was annoyed at how Musk was always around. Shortly after being elected, he made a joke about Musk’s role in the administration. “Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him—at least until I don’t like him,” Trump told the press in November 2024, per Newsweek. Perhaps the Time cover could expedite that.
