War Room host Stephen K. Bannon believes that, despite his differences with the MAGA base, Elon Musk “deserves a place at the table” in President-elect Donald J. Trump’s administration—and that he can be turned into a true populist.
“Elon Musk came in and totally backed the… populist, MAGA play,” Bannon said of the tech mogul at a POLITICO event, noting how he “wrote $250 million worth of checks to back that play… not over a whole cycle, [but] in five months.” Bannon stressed that he had “said from the beginning” that Musk “deserves a place at the table” for his contributions.
“[T]his is a new coalition, much broader than 2016,” Bannon said of the current iteration of the America First movement, likening it to a “1932 FDR-type realignment in American politics.”
“[C]learly, you’re going to have members of that coalition that don’t agree on everything,” he said, readily assenting that he “fundamentally” disagrees with figures such as Musk, Peter Tiel, and Mark Zuckerberg in several areas, and “there’s going to be clashes.” However, he noted that “President Trump is particularly good about people arguing ideas, and the best idea and the best policy wins.”
Bannon believes that, so far, the MAGA base is “actually, I think we’re winning this round, and we’re winning this round pretty big.” He cited Musk having “backed off the H-1B visas,” saying they have “got to be reformed”—although Bannon’s camp wants the visa program “to be done away with.”
“I think we’ll get Elon there, and as soon as I can turn Elon Musk from a techno-feudalist to a populist nationalist, that will start making real progress,” he added.
EARLY BATTLES.
Bannon recalled that around 2017, he and Musk clashed “virtually every day about the EV tax credits” and that similar clashes are now taking place over appointments and the aforementioned H-1B visas.
“[Musk] was adamant about Howard Lutnick being Secretary of the Treasury, actually trashed Scott Bessent. Last time I looked, Scott Bessent’s hearing, I think, is on Thursday or Friday for Secretary of the Treasury. Many of the picks he wanted didn’t come to pass,” Bannon said, suggesting Musk’s influence has been exaggerated by the corporate media.
“Look, when you write $250 million worth of checks, when you’re that involved, when you’ve actually backed a ground game, you’re going to have a seat at the table… [but] it can’t be at the head of the table,” Bannon said.
The former White House chief strategist said the X platform owner has “had some influence over policy,” but his own view of the tech community as “essentially importing indentured servants to take jobs of American citizens” with H-1B visas seems to be prevailing.
“Elon’s not going to go away, and quite frankly, he shouldn’t go away,” Bannon said. For his part, Bannon acknowledges he has “been quite intense,” largely because it is his goal to “shift the Overton window,” and he is untroubled by a “continued fight over ideas.”
