In the latest from “The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point” department, Steve Bannon recently called Elon Musk a “truly evil person” without a true ideology other than amassing and protecting his own wealth. Speaking to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, Bannon said “Stopping him has become a personal issue for me,” and insisted that he would get Musk kicked out of Trump’s inner circle by Inauguration Day.
Bannon is, to put it as generously as possible, a racist, misogynistic, anti-democratic shitheel who has failed at pretty much everything he’s ever done (with the exception of getting Trump into office, which, to be fair, is a pretty big one in the win column there). But he also has a pretty astute read on Musk—perhaps because no one can spot a charlatan quite like another charlatan—so let him cook for a minute.
In the interview, Bannon argues the only reason Musk buddied up to Trump was to protect his piles of cash. “He will do anything to make sure that any one of his companies is protected or has a better deal or he makes more money,” Bannon said. “His aggregation of wealth, and then–through wealth–power: that’s what he’s focused on.” He argued that Musk has no ideological standing to speak of, just the “sole objective” to “become a trillionaire,” and called him a proponent of “techno-feudalism on a global scale.” He also said that he expects Musk will back down easily, stating, “He won’t fight. He’s got the maturity of a little boy.”
Bannon and Musk do appear to be headed for a head-on clash as the second Trump administration hurdles toward its start date. Musk, currently serving in the Hanger-On-in-Chief role that Bannon once occupied, is still building up his so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” according to a new report from the New York Times. While Musk likes to act like DOGE is already a real agency on Twitter—giving it a gray “government” verified check mark and everything—the group apparently exists primarily in Signal chats with Silicon Valley elites.
Musk is reportedly asking tech executives who have expressed interest in getting their grubby hands in the government to serve six six-month stints, unpaid, working 80 hours per week—basically Musk’s ideal arrangement for anyone in his employ. Those willing to do it (the “unpaid” part has been a non-starter for most, per NYT) will be embedded within an agency and tasked with making recommendations on how to improve operations and cut costs.
Just how real DOGE will end up being is yet to be seen. Trump did say he will pursue creating the group, though it’ll be toothless—able to make recommendations but little else. And, the latest gossip in the Trump world is that the president-elect is sick of Musk hanging around so much. Appearing on Kara Swisher’s podcast, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman recently said, “Musk seems more willing to irritate Trump than a lot of other people have been and less concerned about what it might mean,” and described their partnership as a “fraught relationship” with the “potential for becoming even more so.”
If Bannon wants to push Musk out the window, it sure seems like Musk is making a point of sticking his head out of it. But predicting just where Trump will allow his loyalties to fall is difficult. Bannon has already struck one blow in the MAGA civil war. During the H-1B visa argument that saw Musk and the techno-bros defend the tool for attracting skilled immigrants, Bannon sat on the other side, arguing that “the entire immigration system is gamed by the tech overlords.” (His real objection comes from his racist belief that there are too many Asians in the tech industry and that undermines “civic society” but Bannon is good at reframing his positions to try to meet a moment.)
Musk won that fight, with Trump siding with Musk and saying that he has always been in favor of encouraging talent to come to America. But the reality is that Musk’s usefulness to Trump might be coming to an end. He happily took his cash as Musk threw his full weight behind the Trump candidacy, but it’s not clear that Musk can continue to prove himself more useful than annoying in the actual Oval Office. Bannon might be on the outskirts now, but he’s got a real cockroach-like ability to survive. The real shame is that one of them has to win. Either way, the rest of us lose.