Bannon taunts Musk: He doesn’t have that much power

Steve Bannon taunted his fellow Trump ally Elon Musk on Tuesday, telling POLITICO that the president-elect’s billionaire right-hand-man doesn’t have all that much power.

Bannon, a former chief strategist for Trump and host of the “War Room” podcast, told POLITICO White House bureau chief Dasha Burns that Musk has had some influence over Cabinet picks and policy discussions but that he doesn’t “have the ability to actually make decisions and inform those decisions and drive those decisions.”

As Trump’s big-tent GOP returns to power, Bannon and Musk have served as a prime example of the infighting already underway — and the challenges it will pose to the incoming president. Allies argue that it offers an early reminder of the incoming president’s governing style, a way for Trump to retain his decision making power, while ensuring no one faction gains too much control.

In dismissing Musk’s influence, Bannon pointed to Scott Bessent winning out over Musk’s favorite, Howard Lutnick, for Treasury secretary. He also noted that in the fight over H-1B visas — which are designed to allow companies to bring skilled workers to the U.S. and favored by Musk — the Tesla CEO has already budged by acknowledging that the program needs reform. Bannon said Tuesday they’ll move Musk even closer to the stance of MAGA loyalists — that the program should be done away with entirely.

The comments at "POLITICO Playbook: The First 100 Days" event marked Bannon’s latest provocation against Musk and a warning shot that MAGA loyalists will continue to fight and undercut Trump’s new companion. But the former Trump strategist also acknowledged that Musk isn’t going anywhere — noting that there will naturally be clashes amid the broad coalition Trump has built.

“We’re winning this round, and we’re winning this round pretty big,” Bannon said, referring to the H-1B fight. “I think we’ll get Elon there. As soon as I can turn Elon Musk from a techno-futilist to a populist nationalist, we’ll start making real progress.”

In the wide-ranging interview, Bannon also predicted that Trump’s new White House will look different from the “contentious, in-the-open fighting” from the first administration. He credited incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles for her leadership style, calling her “fantastic” and a “safe pair of hands.”

But there are plenty of challenges ahead for the GOP. Bannon said Trump trusts Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, which he said is important as Republicans try to legislate with a slim trifecta of power. But he said it will be an “intense” period for the party, adding that the discussion over the best reconciliation strategy to forge ahead with Trump’s legislative agenda is the most “important fight” right now — one that will set the tone for the next four years.

“President Trump's very comfortable with both people, and I think that’s very important because this is gonna be like going into combat, right? This is gonna be so — in the moment it’s gonna be so intense and decisions are going to have to be made. You have to trust the judgment of those people,” Bannon said, adding that he has different opinions. “President Trump makes the ultimate decisions.”

Bannon said the early days of Trump’s second administration will be even more intense than the shock and awe from his first term, from quick Cabinet confirmations to a slew of executive actions and legislation. He argued the incoming president and his team are even more prepared, pointing to a deep bench of Trump loyalists and groups like Project 2025 that spent the last several years developing policies.

The shock and awe of 2017, however, has been replaced.

“We refer to it right now as ‘days of thunder,’” Bannon said. “And I think these days of thunder starting next week are going to be incredibly, incredibly intense.”