Donald Trump reacts to Time Magazine's 'President Musk' cover: 'They're still in business?'

President Donald Trump expressed surprise that Time Magazine is still in business as he was asked for a response to the magazine's latest cover in which the illustration shows Elon Musk sitting behind President Trump's Resolute Desk. "Is Time Magazine still in business? I didn't know that," Donald Trump said leading to laughs and chuckles.

Without saying it, the magazine cover pushed the 'President Musk' narrative as the cover story unraveled Elon Musk's war on Washington. CNN described the cover as simple but 'provocative' that could be aimed at stoking Donald Trump's ire. The cover piece also questioned how Musk enjoys power that no businessman ever had and how he is only accountable to President Trump "who handed his campaign benefactor a sweeping mandate to bring the government in line with his agenda"



Did the cover irk Donald Trump? His joking surprise that Time Magazine is still in business indicated that though he then went on to heap praises on Elon Musk. "Elon is doing a great job. He is finding tremendous fraud and corruption and waste. You see it with the USAID but you are going to see even more with other agencies and other parts of the government," Trump said.

"He's got a staff that's fantastic. He's wanted to be able to do this for a long time. Everybody else knew it was existent but, I think, never so much when you look at USAID. The whole thing is a fraud."

"Very little being put to good use. Every single line that I look at in terms of events and transactions is either corrupt or ridiculous. And we are going to be doing that through our government and we are going to be very close to balancing budget. He's(Elon) doing a very good job. I am very happy with it," Trump said.

Donald Trump has a warm relationship with Time Magazine as he was selected Time's Person of the Year in 2024 which was his second time receiving the honor.