CNN
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In a provocative move that could be aimed at stoking President Donald Trump’s ire, Time magazine’s latest print cover features Elon Musk behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
The storied biweekly publication, known for its historically significant covers, comes as Trump has given Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency extraordinary power to gut the federal workforce — power that has been stymied, at least to a degree, over the past few days by some lawsuits.
The simple cover, which shows Musk, coffee in hand, sandwiched between the presidential desk and the American and presidential flags, is plainly adorned with a red backdrop. The accompanying piece from Simon Schuster and Brian Bennett delves deeper into Musk’s ruthless campaign that has left “millions of government workers [to] find themselves at Musk’s mercy.”
“So far, Musk appears accountable to no one but President Trump, who handed his campaign benefactor a sweeping mandate to bring the government in line with his agenda.,” Schuster and Bennett wrote. “DOGE directed all of TIME’s questions about its work to the White House, which declined to comment.”
Time’s latest print issue marks the second time in recent months that Musk has appeared on the magazine’s print cover, having done so in November as “Citizen Musk” with a complementary feature styling the billionaire as a “kingmaker” over his role in the presidential election. The pair of covers suggests that it is Musk, not Trump, who is the real power behind the proverbial throne — an idea that could draw the ire of Trump, who is famously fascinated with the magazine and does not share power.
That may be the point, though Time did not respond to a request for comment about whether the cover was intentionally designed to provoke Trump.
Trump was asked about the cover at the White House on Friday.
“Is Time magazine still in business?” Trump jokingly asked. “I didn’t even know that.”
The president has spoken reverently about the the iconic red-framed magazine, which, for Trump, holds a place of power and privilege. Trump has twice been selected as Time’s “person of the year,” most recently in 2024, and has already appeared on its cover since returning to the presidency. His desire to be on the cover has previously been so ardent that he fabricated an issue of the magazine lavishing praise on his reality TV show, “The Apprentice.”
If Time’s cover is intended to be provocative, it would not be the first time the magazine’s famed front page could drive a wedge between Trump and a top acolyte.
Time’s latest feature of Musk echoes its 2017 front-page display of Steve Bannon, who, like Musk, had the president’s ear during Trump’s first bout in the White House. Like Musk under the new administration, Trump’s first administration’s early days were overshadowed by news articles claiming that Bannon, then the chief White House strategist, was the puppet master behind the Resolute Desk — with Time going so far as to brand Bannon the “the great manipulator.” In pop culture portrayals, Bannon was referred to as “President Bannon” and “Saturday Night Live” famously depicted Bannon as the grim reaper pulling Trump’s strings.
For Trump — who historically has not take kindly to being outshined — Bannon’s slow eclipse, which created the perception of Trump’s weakness, was a fireable offense. The litany of perceived slights ultimately led to Bannon’s public ousting and his loss of the president’s favor.
Notably, Musk, who relentlessly uses his X pulpit to attack those he disagrees with, has so far shied away from discussing his latest laurels.
Since Trump’s return to the Oval Office, Musk’s mandate has been to replicate the brute force used to bulldoze Twitter’s workforce following his 2022 acquisition of the social media platform now known as X. But, in a move uncharacteristic for Trump, the media mogul appears to have been given free rein over the cuts.
“He [Trump] said that if Elon Musk comes across a conflict of interest with the contracts and the funding that DOGE is overseeing, then Elon will excuse himself from those contracts,” Karoline Leavitt, the Trump administration’s press secretary, said during a briefing on Wednesday.
