Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty over the death of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson and New Zealand's official holiday road toll period begins. Video / NZ Herald
Donald Trump has rebuffed claims he has “ceded the presidency” to his billionaire powerbroker Elon Musk.
The President-elect said the notion was a “hoax” pushed by their political rivals in a speech at the AmericaFest event in Phoenix, Arizona.
His remarks came amid some Republicans questioning whether Musk, the world’s richest man, had too much influence over Trump and was acting as his “Prime Minister”.
Responding to the criticism, Trump said: “Russia, Russia, Russia … Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine.
“All the different hoaxes. The new one is: President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk.
“No, no. That’s not happening! No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,” the President-elect said. “And I’m safe, you know why? He can’t be. He wasn’t born in this country.”
Trump: [Elon Musk] is not going to be president. That I can tell you. I’m safe. You know why? He can’t be. He wasn’t born in this country pic.twitter.com/YpgcGZ0jF4
He has also been an almost permanent fixture at the President-elect’s Mar-a-Lago residence, joining him for important meetings and phone calls, including with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In return for his support, Musk has been given control of the new Department of Government Efficiency to cut federal spending and red tape.
Musk in recent days has sought to crash a bipartisan spending deal being negotiated on Capitol Hill to avoid a government shutdown over Christmas.
He has posted hundreds of times on his X social media platform urging Republicans to walk away from the negotiations and threatened political revenge on anyone who backs the spending bill.
The tech mogul’s interventions have prompted concerns from some Republicans over his growing powers within Trump’s administration.
Republicans are apparently concerned about the influence tech billionaire Musk has over Trump. Photo / Getty Images
Tony Gonzales, a representative from Texas, told CBS News on Sunday: “We have a President. We have a Vice-President. We have a speaker. And it feels ... as if Elon Musk is our Prime Minister.”
Democrats have also accused the Tesla owner of attempting to feather his own nest through his interventions.
They claimed he voiced support for removing a provision in the bill that could have limited the operations of his businesses in China.
Rosa DeLauro, a Congresswoman, wrote in a letter to congressional leaders on Friday: “It is extremely alarming that House Republican leadership, at the urging of an unelected billionaire, scrapped a bipartisan, bicameral negotiated funding deal that included this critical provision to protect American jobs and critical capabilities.”
In a wide-ranging, 90-minute monologue on Sunday, Trump covered topics from immigration to the Ukraine war and renaming mountains.
He vowed to “stop the transgender lunacy” on day one, marking the first move in a Republican effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights.
He said he would sign executive orders “to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools, middle schools and high schools”.
He also pledged to “keep men out of women’s sports”, adding that “it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female”.
Transgender issues have been at the heart of US politics in recent years as Democratic and Republican-controlled states have moved in opposite directions on policy.
‘We’re going to stop woke’
The Republicans, who are set to control both the Senate and the House of Representatives, have repeatedly said they intend to dismantle Biden-era discrimination laws.
“We’re going to stop woke,” Trump, 78, said triumphantly, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in schools, institutions and businesses, as the audience roared in applause.
Throughout his election campaign, the President-elect lashed out repeatedly at transgender people in his speeches, adverts and policy plans.
US President-elect Donald Trump gave a typical wide-ranging and rambling speech on Sunday covering the Ukraine war to transgender rights. Photo / AFP
The Republican Party spent nearly US$215 million on anti-trans advertisements this election cycle, according to data released by Ad Impact. One advert attacked Kamala Harris’ pro-trans stance, saying the Democrat is “for they/them – not you”.
Trump’s official website lists 20 core priorities, including a promise to “cut federal funding for any school pushing ... radical gender ideology”.
His campaign and election victory have helped reinforce a widespread backlash against trans rights. Just before Americans went to the polls, an AP survey found 55% of US voters felt the government’s support for transgender rights had gone too far.
But anti-trans momentum has been growing for several years, with Republican states enacting dozens of laws restricting trans people’s options for medical care, sports participation and public restroom access.
In November, US defence sources said Trump would use an executive order to remove all transgender members of the US military from their posts, leading to thousands of personnel being dismissed.
In Trump’s first term, he banned transgender people from joining the military but allowed those in their posts to keep their jobs. The ban was promptly overturned by the Biden administration in 2021.
Trump also threatened to retake the Panama Canal, which he referred to as a “vital national asset” that was being used in a “very unfair and injudicious way”.
His comments came soon after he threatened on social media to take back the 82km waterway unless “rip-off” transit fees are reduced for US ships.
The canal, which was built by the US more than a century ago, connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is regarded as one of the world’s most important routes for maritime trade.
