Politico reports:

Some of President Donald Trump’s key aides and allies are furious with Elon Musk for publicly trashing his $500 billion artificial intelligence mega-deal.

A White House official said Musk “very much” got over his skis when the tech tycoon launched a daylong screed against the AI project. One Trump ally said Musk abused his closeness to the president. Another Republican close to the White House went further, saying Trump’s staff is “furious” over Musk using his massive social media platform to pour cold water on the infrastructure deal that Trump called “tremendous” and “monumental” just a day prior.

“It’s clear he has abused the proximity to the president,” said the Trump ally. “The problem is the president doesn’t have any leverage over him and Elon gives zero fucks.”

It is highly unusual for a senior adviser — Musk — to criticize a president’s initiatives in public, and his broadsides renewed speculation within GOP circles about whether he and Trump will eventually have a falling-out. Musk has had seemingly unparalleled access to Trump during the transition since he parked himself at Trump’s side in Mar-a-Lago and heads Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

Trump proved in his first term that he has a high tolerance for internal dissent within his White House. But his 2024 campaign, led by now White House chief-of-staff Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, was praised by Republicans for its limited leaks and relative lack of drama spilling out into the public.

After Trump won the election, some of his allies were perturbed by Musk’s access and hoped that he would have more physical distance once the president took office. It is unclear exactly how much time Musk has spent with Trump since the inauguration, but Musk said that he was in the Oval Office on Tuesday and he has reportedly been working out of the West Wing this week. [Continue reading…]