Quote · The Bulwark Podcast
Maggie Haberman: A Gross and Messy White House
Where this was said
Elon Musk: The De Facto Co-President
At 11:11 · chapter starts 10:40
Haberman turns to one of the most astonishing periods in the book: the Musk co-presidency. Musk rejected his cramped West Wing 'hovel' and relocated to the magnificent Secretary of War suites in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which he made his own with large video game screens. According to Haberman's reporting, he would call Trump late at night to propose cutting government entities — including, in one instance, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. His unilateral decisions often surprised Trump's own official staff. He didn't always align with Stephen Miller or Russell Vought on methods, creating internal friction. His most aggressive target was USAID — a congressionally established agency — which he effectively dismantled, leaving Marco Rubio to clean up the mess. The Musk era, Haberman notes, feels like ancient history now, but it dominated the first several months of the presidency and had lasting consequences.
Elon Musk operated out of grand Secretary of War suites in the EEOB, making unilateral decisions about cutting government agencies while often leaving Trump's own staff in the dark.
Rubio sat with El Salvador's Bukele in his palace and personally hashed out the CECOT arrangement, which was supposed to target only verified gang members. The vetting proved to be fiction — innocent people, including Venezuelans with no-deportation orders, ended up in the gulag. Rubio is not the moderate anyone hoped for.
Rubio personally negotiated with El Salvador's Bukele in his palace to create the CECOT deportation arrangement, which ultimately sent innocent people to the foreign prison.
