Longtime Trump loyalist Bannon has spoken out against Musk and his growing role in Trump's administration several times before, accusing Musk, the world's richest person, of being "a racist," "an agent of Chinese influence" and an existential threat to the MAGA movement.

“Scott Bessent today said Elon’s group in the first 30 days found $55 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse,” said Bannon, President Donald Trump’s chief White House strategist during the first several months of his first term. “$55 billion, that’s going to add up to six, seven, $800 billion. In one month, they’ve done that.”