“No, he’s not taking the presidency,” Trump told a conservative audience in Phoenix, addressing growing complaints about the outsized role the Tesla boss has already had in his incoming administration.

“You know, they’re on a new kick,” he said. “All the different hoaxes. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk. No, no, that’s not happening.”

That Trump would be compelled to address Musk’s power is testimony to the unusual influence that the world’s richest man has displayed in a second Trump presidency that won’t begin for another month. 

Trump has tapped Musk to head a cost-cutting and deregulation effort he calls the Department of Government Efficiency. It’s not an official department, but rather a small group of people working from the Washington offices of Musk’s SpaceX and organized around an account on Musk’s social media platform, X.

The appointment has already brought complaints of conflicts of interest, as Musk’s many businesses — including car-maker Tesla, tunnel-drilling Boring Co., rocket-launcher SpaceX and its sister satellite company Starlink — are regulated by the federal government and receive federal contracts.

Musk also was an early and vocal opponent of a budget compromise in Congress last week, amplifying criticism of the bill — much of it misleading — on X. The bill failed and was replaced by a slimmed-down version that prevented a government shutdown.

Trump has marveled at the South Africa-born billionaire’s technological acumen, and credited Musk with helping to win Pennsylvania. Musk contributed a total of $238.5 million to a pro-Trump political action committee, making him the largest single donor in the US election.

“Isn’t it nice to have smart people we can rely on? Don’t we want that?” Trump asked a gathering of the conservative youth group Turning Point USA.

“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. Ha ha ha.”