Time magazine recently announced the cover for its release on February 24, attracting attention with a photo of billionaire Elon Musk sitting at Ban Kien - a symbolic table for US President in the Elon Musk Department. The collaged photo shows Musk leisurely sitting, holding a cup of coffee, behind the American flag and presidential flag on a prominent red background.
The accompanying article, written by two authors Simon Shuster and Brian simmered, focused on analyzing Elon Musk's growing influence in politics, saying that “millions of government staff are currently under his complete control.”
The authors have stressed that Elon Musk does not seem to be held accountable to anyone except for President Donald Trump, who has given him an important role in guiding government agendas.
This is the second time in recent months Elon Musk appeared on Time's cover. Two consecutive covers as an implicit statement that not President Trump that Elon Musk itself is the person who really holds power. This is thought to make Mr. Trump dissatisfied.
When asked about Time's new cover, Mr. Trump was calm and even joking: “Time magazine is still active? I don't even know that. ”
However, Mr. Trump has been honored twice by Time as the "character of the year", the last time was last year. He was no stranger to appearing on the cover of this magazine during his position as president.
Elon Musk, the largest sponsor in the 2024 presidential election, contributed more than $288 million, playing an important role in helping Mr. Trump win. After Mr. Trump took office, Mr. Musk was appointed as leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - the agency in charge of government streamlining. This sparked controversy over the possibility of conflict in interest, when Elon Musk was both a businessman and held a position with great influence in the government.
Karoline Leavitt, a press secretary of the Trump administration, spoke at a press conference on February 5 that: “President Trump affirmed that if Elon Musk encountered conflicts of interests related to contracts and funding resources and funding resources. But Doge supervised, he would not participate in those jobs anymore. ”
Many Democratics and critics did not hesitate to call Mr. Musk “underground president”, stressing his influence beyond the business field of Mr. Trump’s administration. Meanwhile, Time magazine refused to comment on whether the new cover would be designed to provoke Mr. Trump.
