President-elect Donald Trump dismissed claims that he is ceding the presidency to Elon Musk during a wide-ranging speech celebrating his election victory and sharing his plans for his second term.
Trump spoke at Turning Point USA’s AmFest in Phoenix, Arizona, in his first rally-style speech since the election. During an address that lasted over an hour, Trump discussed many topics, including his work with Musk on the Department of Government Efficiency. At one point, the president-elect referred to claims from the left that he had ceded the presidency to Musk in large part due to the billionaire Tesla CEO leading the opposition to a proposed continuing resolution.
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“He’s not taking the presidency,” Trump told the crowd on Sunday. “I like having smart people. You know, they’re on a new kick. Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, all the different hoaxes. And the new one is ‘President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk.’ No, no, that’s not happening, but Elon has done an amazing job. Isn’t it nice to have smart people that we could rely on?”
Trump then praised Musk’s work with Starlink and SpaceX before joking that he does not have to worry about the South African-born billionaire becoming president.
“So we want to thank him, but no, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,” Trump said. “And I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country.”
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Trump also took a victory lap on his election victory, where he swept the seven swing states, including Arizona, and touted gains with several key voting demographics, including Latinos, black people, and young voters.
“We got the highest share of youth vote of any Republican ever before in history, and we had great people. You know, my son, Barron, said, ‘Dad, you got to see this one.’ That one, this one,” Trump said, referring to his son’s influence on podcasts he appeared on during the campaign.
“He said he likes Joe Rogan a lot, too. He said, ‘You got to see Joe Rogan, Dad. You got to do an interview with these people.’ And he has a sort of a feel for young people. I guess that’s a nice thing to have when you’re young. But he has a feel for it, and it was amazing,” the president-elect continued.
Trump also previewed strong action on the border with his second administration, bringing out Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, who was killed while on a jog. The man who was arrested for the crime is an illegal immigrant.
“She’s been through hell. Who wouldn’t be? I mean, so many people, so many, I call them angel moms, and they are. They go through hell, and many of them say it doesn’t get any better, but we have to hope it does get better,” Trump said after Morin spoke before the crowd.
He also discussed the Panama Canal, a topic he posted about on Saturday, saying that if Panama does not treat the U.S. “fairly” with passage through, then he would ensure “the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America in full, quickly and without question.”
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Trump praised his “all star Cabinet” picks, calling them “some of the most fearless, determined and brilliant individuals ever to step forward for public office.”
The president-elect will return to office in less than a month, with a Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony on the steps of the Capitol Building where he will be sworn in as the 47th president.