Elon Musk, who is the richest man in the world, got himself an unelected position at the right hand of the President of the United States, complete with the West Wing office… After the Trump administration announced the $ 500 billion “Stargate” artificial intelligence infrastructure projectMusk took to X to throw out the inclusion of OpenAI—a step that IS reported angered some Trump staffers.

According to Politico, White House staffers think that Musk has gone too far by publicly accusing OpenAI of not having the money needed to keep up its end of the bargain for a $100 billion investment in the Stargate initiative.

A Trump ally told Politico that he “obviously abused his proximity to the president” in his attack on Altman—quickly shifting from “they don’t have money” to presenting Altman as a spineless flip-flopper who broke Trump in his first term but is absorbing him now. And, you know what? Fair hit. Musk might be a pot calling the kettle black, if he delivers quit the first Trump administration in a principled position he apparently no longer holds, but Altman is a bit of a worm, too. Sometimes it takes one to know the other.

Unfortunately for Trumpworld, they don’t have any mechanism to prevent Musk from doing things like this, even if it comes at the expense of the administration’s achievements. A Trump ally told Politico, “The problem is that the president doesn’t have any leverage over him and Elon doesn’t give a damn.”

Trump himself seemed to brush off the incident, telling the press that it didn’t bother him that Musk criticized the project because “He hates one of the people in the deal.” But around him, it seems patience for Musk’s antics may be growing a little thin. Even White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, while avoiding calling Musk directly, said during an interview with Fox News that “the American people should take President Trump and the CEOs’ word for it,” regarding their Stargate investments.

Musk is a unique problem for Trumpworld—a man who may have as much if not more reach than the President himself and who controls the levers of the very platform that Trump once wielded. directly dictate his policy. Between the pettiness and the relentless tweet barrages that can control media cycles, it’s like dealing with another Trump—if that other Trump is richer and worse than a poster.

Trump probably doesn’t have a ton of leverage over Musk right now, because he probably feels as though he owes him a little fulfillment for the huge amount of money Musk has spent boosting Trump’s campaign. But to suggest he doesn’t might mean Trumpworld is letting their hand down. Musk’s empire was built government subsidies and federal contracts. It’s not that hard to cause pain if they want to. If Musk continues to overplay his hand, we will see how strong this partnership is.