Steve Bannon Calls Musk ‘National Security Issue,’ Says He 'May Be Here Illegally'
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon seized an opportunity to air his grievances with Elon Musk amid the SpaceX founder’s blowup with President Donald Trump.
In a Friday interview with NPR, Bannon was asked about prior comments that Trump should cancel all government contracts with Musk. The tech mogul’s companies, which include Tesla, SpaceX and artificial intelligence startup xAI, have been given billions in federal dollars over the years, according to The New York Times.
“I think we have as a country a national security issue here,” Bannon said Friday, adding that Musk has a reportedly “massive drug problem” and a “deep financial and business relationship” with China.
The MAGA podcaster continued, “And we know he’s asked for private briefings of top secret information.”
The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Musk had requested a Pentagon briefing on plans for a potential war with China. Trump told reporters at the time that Musk would not see the plans, citing his business ties to China as a conflict of interest.
The formerly Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, a team tasked with rooting out supposed fraud and waste within the federal government, has drawn scrutiny over its access to classified materials and the personal information of US citizens.
Bannon then doubled down on his call to investigate Musk’s immigration status.
“You have someone whose legal status is in question,” he told NPR, adding that you “can’t deport people from all over the world” and “leave a white South African, who may be here illegally, here.”
Bannon, who pleaded guilty this year to scamming people who donated money towards building a wall at the US Southern border, added, “It’s just not right.”
The South African-born Musk is a naturalized US citizen. Last year, The Washington Post reported that Musk was working illegally in the US at the beginning of his career in the 1990s, though Musk denied the allegation.
Bannon has never been Musk’s biggest fan, previously calling him a “parasitic illegal immigrant” and a “truly evil guy.”
Speaking to NPR on Friday, Bannon theorized about the root of Musk’s falling out with Trump and added one more insult to the roster: an “11-year-old child.”
“He hasn’t turned up any fraud,” Bannon said, criticising Musk’s efforts at DOGE. “So there’s been a lot of tension. And Elon Musk, like the 11-year-old child he is, didn’t take it very well.”