Chris Christie, a former ally to President-elect Donald Trump, predicted Elon Musk would soon discover that all of Trump’s closest confidantes have a “shelf life” and the tech CEO would find himself on the outside looking in.
Musk endorsed Trump’s third White House bid and has spent much of the transition alongside him. The billionaire has also been tapped to run Trump’s cost-cutting pseudo agency the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), alongside venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO also joined Trump last week to help sink a government funding bill that has become a political crisis for House Speaker Mike Johnson.
On ABC’s This Week on Sunday, network anchor Jonathan Karl probed Christie about Musk’s influence in the following exchange:
KARL: How much influence does he really have on Trump? How much is he steering what Trump’s been doing?
CHRISTIE: In the beginning, I think anybody who plays this role for Trump, …