Topline
Steve Bannon attacked Elon Musk in an interview with British outlet Unherd published Tuesday, criticizing Musk’s power and calling him “a parasitic illegal immigrant”—escalating the feud between one of President Donald Trump’s key advisers and his one-time campaign chief Bannon.
Steve Bannon, former advisor to US President Donald Trump, arrives for a pre-trial conference … [+]
AFP via Getty ImagesKey Facts
Bannon told James Billot of Unherd that Musk “wants to impose his freak experiences and play-act as God without any respect for the country’s history, values, or traditions,” adding the efforts of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency are “performative” and suggesting Trump is using Musk as “an armour-piercing shell that’s delivering blunt force trauma against the administrative state.”
Though Bannon has issues with Musk—describing him as “a problem to the country”—he told “Unherd” he is okay with DOGE having access to government data because he trusts Trump, who “says Musk doesn’t do anything that he’s not on top of.”
When Bannon referred to Musk as “a parasitic illegal immigrant” in the “Unherd” interview, he may have been referring to a Washington Post report from last October that alleged Musk, who was born in South Africa, began his career in the U.S. working illegally—though Musk denied the claims, saying on X, “I was in fact allowed to work in the US.”
It’s the 2016 Trump campaign leader’s latest broadside against Musk: In an interview with Ross Douthat of The New York Times that aired Jan. 31, Bannon described Musk as a “hard-core technofeudalist”—which Bannon described as “transhumanists” who do not value humans for being humans but rather see everything as “digital”—and said he is “not with us when it comes to the little guy” and doesn’t believe in this country.
Bannon accused Musk in an interview with Politico of having “brought in his own personal vendetta” when Musk railed against the new “Stargate” joint venture announced by Trump on Tuesday and funded by OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank and MGX, writing on X that the companies “don’t actually have the money” to meet the $500 billion investment target, calling the project “fake” and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman a “swindler.”
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles should “sit [Musk] down” and “sort it out immediately,” Bannon said.
Also last month, Bannon—a highly controversial figure whose influence over Trump has ebbed and flowed for years—told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera Musk “should go back to South Africa,” where he is from, asking, “why do we have South Africans, the most racist people on earth, White South Africans . . . making comments at all on what goes on in the United States?”
Bannon also said in January he would “do anything” to keep Musk out of the White House and is actively working on a strategy to limit his influence over Trump, telling Corrierre della Sera Musk’s ideas are “really about the implementation of techno-feudalism on a global scale.”
Crucial Quote
“I’ve never seen someone on another aspect of the government that has been deputized by the president himself come in and openly criticize him,” Bannon told Politico of Musk’s “Stargate” criticism. “There’s something fundamentally wrong here about the structure and about his understanding of the structure . . . This is not Silicon Valley. This is not tech bros.”
Tangent
Musk and Altman also have a long-running feud stemming from their split on OpenAI, which they co-founded as a nonprofit in 2015. Musk left the partnership in 2018 and launched direct competitor xAI, accusing Altman of aborting the nonprofit mission. Altman, also a billionaire who previously donated to Democratic candidates but has warmed to Trump since he won the November election, hit back at Musk, telling him he was “wrong.”
Key Background
Bannon’s criticism of Musk came after the billionaire offered his support for H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, helping to spark a feud between Trump’s far-right allies and his typically more pro-immigration backers in the tech industry. The dispute over the visa program erupted in December when Trump hired venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as a senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence. Krishnan has advocated for eliminating caps on green cards and skilled immigration programs. Bannon, calling the program “an economic and financial scam,” said on his “War Room” podcast he and his MAGA allies are going to “rip [Musk’s] face off” if he continues to back the visa program. Bannon said at the time he has “full respect” for Musk, but challenged him to back up his claims that his companies depend on H1B visas by publishing data on “every engineer hired on H1B and prove Americans couldn’t fill those roles.” Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and venture capitalist David Sacks defended Krishnan and the H-1B program, and Musk attacked critics of the visas, telling them to “take a big step back and F—K YOURSELF in the face,” vowing to “go to war on this issue.” Trump, who hasn’t always been supportive of the visa program, sided with Musk, telling the New York Post H-1B is a “a great program.”
Contra
Bannon has expressed support for Musk’s involvement in European politics—often backing right-wing causes—and said his money and influence could help spread the movement abroad. “I support his participation because the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Bannon said in a recent interview with Bloomberg, adding: “Money and information are the twin tactical nukes of modern politics — and he can deploy both at unprecedented scale.”
Why Is Elon Musk Influential In Trump’s Orbit?
Musk, who is worth nearly $400 billion, has become one of Trump’s closest confidants after spending more than $200 million to support Trump’s 2024 campaign. Trump appointed Musk to co-chair a newly created Department of Government Efficiency dedicated to slashing federal spending—though the agency is facing a number of legal challenges about many of its moves. Musk has increasingly weighed in on global politics in recent months, often in support of right-wing leaders, including those in the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada and Argentina. His outspokenness has raised concerns among European leaders that Musk is able to use his X platform to unfairly intervene in foreign politics.
What We Don’t Know
How much influence Bannon has in Trumpworld. Bannon served as a leader of Trump’s 2016 campaign and worked in the Trump White House early on, but left the administration within less than a year, with Trump later saying Bannon had “lost his mind.” He appeared to rebuild his relationship with Trump in the 2020 cycle, and was pardoned by Trump on charges of defrauding donors to a border wall-building charity. More recently, Bannon was imprisoned for contempt of Congress last year after he refused to comply with a subpoena in the House Jan. 6 probe.
Further Reading
Trump Weighs In On H-1B Visa Program Dividing MAGA World (Forbes)
What Are H-1B Visas? The Immigration Policy Dividing Elon Musk And Trump’s Allies Explained (Forbes)
Foreign Leaders—And The EU—Step Up Challenges To Musk As His Feuds With Global Politicians Heat Up (Forbes)
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