politics

Revealed: Musk attacked Trump with a profane rant behind his back in the White House

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are getting along well so far, but their first meeting at the Oval Office five years ago in 2020 was not as friendly. A source who was at the meeting shared the details with Politico on Tuesday.

“That Musk later became Trump’s biggest financial backer — giving $288 million to his 2024 presidential bid — and then one of his closest advisers, is the latest example of how both men make decisions and build relationships based on a real politik calculus. And how both see themselves as engaging in a transactional relationship,” writes Politico’s Adam Wren.

Musk and Trump were meeting to discuss building a Tesla gigafactory in Mexico rather than Texas. Wren reports that Musk also met with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, before the meeting.

“A person who was within earshot of Musk — who West Wing Playbook granted anonymity to describe a private conversation — later recounted that Musk called Trump ‘a f------ moron’ behind his back while in the White House,” Wren writes.

“We walk into the Oval, and he kind of looks around, and he’s looking around,” the source said. “He’s like, ‘Gosh, I tell you. I mean, I was just in China and man, their palaces just make the White House kind of look more like an outhouse.’”

Trump “fumed,” the source said.

They discussed Teslas; Trump said he had two. But he seemed confused as to how the car’s supercharging network works.

Musk was on three Trump advisory councils in 2017, but he left when Trump said he would pull out of the Paris Climate Accords. “Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,” he tweeted.

In 2022, Musk tweeted, "I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset."

Trump posted a picture of himself sitting at his desk in the Oval Office with Musk standing to his right. “When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidized projects, whether it’s electric cars that don’t drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he’d be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, “drop to your knees and beg,” and he would have done it…” he posted on Truth Social.

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New Biden campaign ad puts focus on Trump’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade

As part of its $50 million July ad push, President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is releasing a new ad Monday that focuses on former President Donald Trump’s role in appointing U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade.

Viewed by the Capital-Star ahead of its wider release, the 30-second spot, titled “Her Own,” uses Trump’s comments from the June 27 presidential debate, where he called appointing the justices who helped “kill” Roe v. Wade “a great thing.” It will run on digital TV in battleground states.

Her Own | Biden-Harris 2024www.youtube.com

“Ask yourself, who do you want in the White House: The man proud to overturn Roe v. Wade, or the President fighting for your rights?” the voiceover asks.

A screen capture from the new Biden campaign ad “Her Own.”

The issue of abortion access has been energizing for the Democratic base, but Biden gave somewhat confusing answers to questions about abortion and Roe v. Wade during the debate. The campaign has tried to demonstrate the consequences of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision for women who have had to navigate the new patchwork of state abortion laws to receive care.

“If Trump is reelected, he will go even further – punishing women who receive an abortion, banning abortion nationwide, and carrying out the rest of the extreme Project 2025 agenda,” campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement Monday. “The only thing standing between American women and Trump’s cruel attacks on reproductive health care is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”

While he has boasted about appointing the three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, Trump said during the debate he believes in abortion ban exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. But in February he reportedly expressed support for a nationwide abortion ban, and during an interview with a Pittsburgh TV news station in May, Trump hinted that he might be open to states limiting or banning access to contraception, though he walked back his remarks the same day in a social media post.

The new Biden campaign ad also seeks to continue its focus on linking Trump to Project 2025, , a conservative policy proposal that would, among other things, hinder abortion and contraception access. Trump tried to distance himself from Project 2025 in a social media post last week.

The ad comes as Biden brushes aside suggestions he should step aside as Democrats’ presumptive 2024 nominee, after his shaky debate performance. The president campaigned in Pennsylvania on Sunday, speaking at a church in Philadelphia and a union gathering in Harrisburg as he tried to reassure voters he was up to the job.

Trump is scheduled to speak in Pennsylvania on Saturday at a rally in Butler, north of Pittsburgh, two days before the opening of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kim Lyons for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Facebook and X.

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