(Adnkronos) – More rumors in the American media about tensions between the inner circle of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who was crucial to the tycoon’s victory and who some say behaves like a co-president. Now it is the well-informed Axios revealing the quarrel that allegedly broke out last week between the Tesla founder and head of X with Boris Epshteyn, a longtime Trump advisor.
According to the reconstruction, Musk allegedly questioned the excessive influence of the 43-year-old lawyer, born in Moscow and a naturalized American citizen, Trump’s advisor since 2016, in the administration’s appointment process, particularly the controversial one of Matt Gaetz to Justice and William McGinley as White House Counsel.
What angered Epshteyn, who also coordinated the tycoon’s defense team in his many trials, was Musk’s questioning of the credentials of the candidates he presented, including Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, the criminal lawyers who defended Trump and who will hold high positions in the Justice Department.
This led to a heated argument, described as “a huge blowup” by Axios sources, during a dinner last Wednesday at Mar-a-Lago, with other guests at the table, with Musk accusing Epshteyn of leaking information about Trump’s transition, including appointments, to the media. Epshteyn responded that Musk did not know what he was talking about.
The quarrel between the two comes as no surprise, but it is a sign that the magic circle of longtime advisers and intimates are increasingly unnerved by the constant and intrusive presence alongside Trump of the billionaire, whom the American press has already dubbed ‘first buddy’. As sources from Nbcnews revealed in recent days, Musk is putting his mouth on everything and, above all, promoting and pushing his own candidates, even resorting to pronouncements on ‘his’ X.
This is not to say that there are no Musk enthusiasts in Trump’s entourage, starting with his family, children Don Jr. and Eric, and niece Kai who considers him an “uncle by marriage”. Also elected Vice President and JD Vance and far-right commentator Tucker Carlson have a good relationship with him.
