Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
Elon Musk’s father claimed that his son is “not cut out for politics” ahead of the world’s richest man’s attendance Donald Trump’s first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Speculation over Musk’s political ambitions and future has intensified since Trump’s return to office last month.
His father, Errol Musk, sat down with Al Arabiya News’ Global News Today program where he was quizzed on whether he thinks his son, who has imposed sweeping cuts across government through his Department of Government Efficiency, would consider running for president after a second Trump term.
The elder Musk claimed that the South African-born tech billionaire’s brashness would lead to him failing to communicate with the public.
The U.S. Constitution also states that a president must be a natural-born citizen who is at least 35-years-old.
“Elon is not cut out for politics,” Errol Musk said Monday. “Politics is where you have to deal with everyone, from the very incredibly clever to the very somewhat not clever, the highly sophisticated to the very unsophisticated. If you can’t do that, don’t get into politics.”
open image in gallery
Elon and Errol Musk have had a tumultuous relationship over the years.
The SpaceX CEO has said in the past that his father had done “almost every evil thing you can possibly think of.”
In return, Errol Musk said on a Wide Awake podcast episode last week that his son hasn’t been a good dad to his own children.
“No, he hasn’t been a good father. The first child was too much with nannies and died in the care of a nanny,” he said of Nevada Alexander Musk who died at 10 weeks old from Sudden Death Syndrome.
“If Elon hears this, he’s going to shoot me or something,” he added. “Then he had five children, each one had their own nanny. It was a weird situation. He didn’t spend enough time with them.”
Errol Musk’s most recent criticism of his son came a day before the White House announced that Musk would attend Trump’s first Cabinet meeting Wednesday as the president attempts to further his agenda now most of his nominees have been confirmed by the Senate.
open image in gallery
Despite not holding a cabinet position or any formal decision-making authority, the DOGE leader will be there as a “special government employee” and “senior adviser” to the president, Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
She said Musk will talk to Trump’s cabinet “about DOGE’s efforts and how all of the cabinet secretaries are identifying waste, fraud and abuse at their respective agencies.”
In a post on TruthSocial, Trump doubled down on his decision to include Musk in the meeting.
“ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON. The Media will see that at the Cabinet Meeting this morning!!!,” he wrote.
Members of Congress, political pundits and the public have watched Musk and his advisory body rip through various government departments in an attempt to slash bureaucracy and cut federal spending by trillions.
This week, Musk demanded federal employees respond to an email requesting specifics of what they had achieved last week or risk termination.
After initially setting a deadline for 11:59 p.m. on Monday, the tech billionaire gave federal workers a second opportunity to respond to his correspondence at Trump’s “discretion.”
“Subject to the discretion of the president, they will be given another chance,” he tweeted late Monday. “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”
