"Elon is a terrible president", reads a sign in the crowd in Washington DC. On another: "Elon, you are a swindler". Other placards accuse Musk of a coup against democracy – and call for the arrest of the 53-year-old.
Thousands of Americans have protested in several places in the USA over the past few days. The demonstrators' anger is directed partly against President Donald Trump and his policies, partly against Elon Musk and what many call a "shadow government" controlled by the super-entrepreneur.
What we are seeing is the biggest coup in American history, said Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen to demonstrators in the capital Washington DC on Wednesday.
Office in the White House
South African-born Musk – the world's richest person – has not been subject to any scrutiny or grilling in the Senate, which according to law must approve all new ministers before they take office. Yet he is now reported to have his own office in the White House.
With Musk, Donald Trump has circumvented all regulations by giving him a role with seemingly unlimited power, but without formal civil servant status: as head of Doge (Department of Government Efficiency) – a department that is not a real department but a so-called "temporary organization".
Under X- and Tesla-CEO Musk, a small group of coders and engineers, according to a report in Wired, men aged 19-24, are working to implement the budget cuts in the state treasury that Trump has tasked Doge with.
"Making money"
To succeed, the group has so far gained access to about ten authorities. They thus have access to enormous amounts of information, personal data, and bank accounts.
It scares me to see a bunch of young, inexperienced data nerds in places like the US Finance Department, said 82-year-old Karolyn Switzer during a protest in Phoenix, Arizona to the news agency AP on Wednesday.
Behind the recent protests stands an internet-organized movement called 50501. Even a number of Democratic congressmen have joined the demonstrators.
Every American's information is at risk, said Senator Richard Blumenthal to the crowd in Washington on Tuesday.
The Democrat then put into words many demonstrators' fear, according to The Guardian:
And what does Elon Musk do with everything he touches? He makes money on it!
Mia Holmberg Karlsson/TT
Facts: Elon Musk
TT
Born June 28, 1971, in South Africa. Moved to his mother's homeland Canada at the age of 18 to study. He then switched to the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in economics and physics.
In 1995, he began his entrepreneurial journey, and in 1999, he co-founded what would later become PayPal. The service was sold to eBay at the end of 2002 for $1.5 billion.
He then co-founded both Space X and Tesla. Today, Musk is considered one of the richest people in the world – depending on market conditions and stock market fluctuations, often the richest.
His personal opinions have taken up increasingly more space among his posts on X. Musk has been criticized for being both transphobic and anti-Semitic, and for spreading conspiracy theories and right-wing extremist propaganda.
Elon Musk has eleven living children with three different women.
In September 2024, he backed Donald Trump ahead of the US presidential election. According to reports, he spent approximately 1.3 billion kronor on Trump's campaign. Days after the election in November, he was appointed head of the newly created Doge (Department of Government Efficiency), which is tasked with cutting government spending.
