Your support helps us tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to big tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the finances of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word,’ which shines a light on American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know the importance of analyzing the facts of messaging. .
At such a critical moment in American history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to continue sending journalists to tell both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to block Americans from our reporting and analysis with a paywall. We believe that quality journalism should be available to everyone, and paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Ex The White House chief strategist Steve Bannon softens his tone on Trump’s campaign financier-turned-advisor Elon Musk just days after he promised to push the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX out of the future president’s orbit because of Musk’s support for a controversial program for tech workers.
Bannon, who was campaign chairman in the final months of Trump’s 2016 presidential bid and served as a top White House aide during Trump’s first seven months in office, has been engaged in a war of words in recent weeks against the South African-born Musk. immigrant pledge to support continues the H-1B visa program.
The program, which provides for nonimmigrant visas that allow essential technology workers to enter the United States and work for American employers, became a source of tension after Trump announced that Indian immigrant and tech executive Sriram Krishnan would serve as the White House’s top adviser on artificial intelligence .
In an interview for an Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera Over the weekend, Bannon vowed to “kick Elon Musk out by his inauguration” and said Musk would not have the coveted “blue pass” that would give him free access to the White House’s most coveted office space in the West Wing.
Now, at the live event Politico to mark Trump’s upcoming first 100 days in office, Bannon declined to comment.
Asked by correspondent Dasha Burns about the turmoil, Bannon acknowledged that Musk earned a “seat at the table” by financing much of Trump’s winning campaign and praised the tech entrepreneur for “supporting … the populist MAGA game” during the last election.
“Look, when you write a check for $250 million … when you’re so involved, when you’ve actually supported the floor game, you’re going to have a seat at the table. I have always argued that it cannot be at the head of the table and that the table should not be the cabinet of the cabinet in the west wing,” he said.
Musk, who was reportedly camped out in a $2,000-a-night space at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach — just steps from the president-elect’s personal residence — has emerged as a key member of Trump’s brain trust, having donated about a quarter billion dollars to become the first president to serve consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland accomplished the same feat more than a century ago.
He will reportedly have access to an office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, across the street from the White House, as part of his work at what he and Trump have dubbed the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE.
Bannon, who served a brief prison sentence last year after being convicted of felony contempt of Congress for defying a House Select Committee subpoena on Jan. 6, has remained a key Trump outside adviser but is not expected to rejoin his staff.
His clash with Musk exposed a potential split in Trump’s coalition between the tech executives who backed him in his 2024 bid versus the anti-immigration populists who have been a key part of his base since the start of Trump’s political career.
But Bannon said Trump’s new coalition was big enough for both camps, while describing it as “the beginning, I think, of a 1932 FDR-type realignment of American politics.”
“Clearly you’re going to have members of that coalition who don’t agree on everything … and there’s going to be conflict,” he said, adding that Trump is “good at getting people to debate ideas” and that he allows “the best ideas to win.” .”