Steve Bannon has called for Donald Trump to deport “illegal alien” Elon Musk and seize SpaceX with immediate effect.
The former senior Trump advisor, who previously rallied for a “MAGA civil war” against Musk, shared his two cents on a solution for the abrupt breakup between the two billionaires after their very public clash over the president’s “big, beautiful bill.”
Speaking on his War Room podcast Thursday evening, Bannon fumed over the tech billionaire’s threat to decommission its Dragon spacecraft “immediately” after the president mulled canceling billions of dollars of government subsidies to Musk’s companies.
“President Trump, tonight, should sign an executive order calling for the Defense Production Act,” Bannon said, referring to the Cold War-era law that gives presidents emergency authority to control domestic industries.
“And seize SpaceX tonight, before midnight,” he added.
Bannon wasn’t quite done with his suggested sanctions against Musk, resurfacing his attack from February, where he called the world’s richest man a “parasitic illegal immigrant.”
The former Trump aide urged the president to deport the South African native, claiming he was in the country illegally, despite Musk becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2002.
“I happen to believe, given the facts that I’ve been shown, that he is an illegal alien. Illegal alien’s gotta be deported,” Bannon said, without divulging what information he had received.
“Elon Musk is illegal. He’s got to go too,” he continued, before thrusting his hand at the camera and adding: “Deport immediately.”
Speaking with the New York Times Thursday, Bannon dug in on his calls for the president to deport Musk and said his administration should launch an investigation into his immigration status.
“They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,” he said.
Bannon offered to diagnose the “problem” with Musk, who recently bowed out as head of Trump’s government-slasher task force, the Department of Government Efficiency.
“Here’s the problem with Elon. Very simple. He promised a trillion dollars in cuts in waste, fraud, and abuse, and listen – for all the fanboys out there,” he said. “I’m gonna treat you fanboys like little puppies; they’re gonna rub your nose in the mess you made.”
Musk, who previously vowed to root out more than $1 trillion in federal waste, was only able to cut $170 billion despite over 270,000 people losing their jobs due to the initiative’s sweeping layoffs.
His rift with Trump largely boiled down to his fears that the president’s showpiece tax bill would increase the deficit by $2.5 trillion, seemingly at odds with DOGE’s objective to help the government reduce its spending.