During a cosy sit-down with Fox News’ Sean Hannity at his Mar-a-Lago home, US President Donald Trump didn’t hold back in singing the praises of tech titan Elon Musk, dubbing him as the brightest spark he could rustle up. Trump revealed that he’d been on the hunt for someone even smarter than the tech mogul but came up short, confessing, “I searched all over the country. I couldn’t find anyone smarter. So we settled on this guy.”

Musk, chuckling, chimed in with a cheeky, “Well, thanks for having me.”

The big thumbs-up from Trump to Musk, who’s now steering the ship at the freshly minted Department of Government Efficiency, has sparked controversy on social media, with some reading it as a cold shoulder to Vice President JD Vance.It’s worth noting that Trump had previously shut down the idea of Vance filling his shoes, responding with a flat “no” when quizzed about any presidential hopes for his VP, reports the Mirror US.

Internet sleuths were quick to notice the friction between both Vance and Trump in recent days, with one even sharing a clip of the interview online and throwing out the question, “Has anyone seen JD Vance? “

Another cracked a smile, saying, “You see Elon more than JD Vance lmao. Is Elon the VP all of a sudden? ?” Yet another user couldn’t resist a dig, jesting, “It’s funny how Trump sends JD Vance off on side quests while him and Elon do things together lol.”

The scene has reignited conversations as Trump and his circle, including Donald Trump Jr, were seen dining on the aircraft sans Vance, sparking curiosity.

In a recent White House interview, Musk emphasised his crusade to slash federal spending and profoundly cut the federal workforce under DOGE’s banner. Musk is catching heat from Congressional Democrats and critics over severe cuts at DOGE, involving trimming foreign aid and cutting governmental jobs.

“All we’re really trying to do here is restore the will of the people, through the president. And what we’re finding is that there’s an unelected bureaucracy that is implacably opposed to the president and the cabinet,” Musk told Hannity, confronting the opposition from Democrats concerning DOGE’s policy. Last week in the Oval Office, Trump and Musk jointly reaffirmed their commitment to DOGE’s radical financial cutbacks.

With fresh empowerment to push Trump’s America First agenda, the administration is causing uproar with plans to disband entities such as the Department of Education and the US Agency for International Development, enforcing tight immigration rules.

The recent Delta Airlines tragedy on Monday has reignited concerns over air safety following the Trump administration’s controversial move to cut hundreds of FAA employees—a decision critics argue contributed to last weekend’s horrific mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which claimed the lives of 67 people due to alleged staffing shortages. Since Trump’s re-election, DOGE has rapidly reduced the federal workforce across various departments.

Despite worries about DOGE’s access to sensitive government data systems and a lawsuit from 14 Democratic states, a federal judge declined to restrict Musk and DOGE’s access to data or their involvement in employee dismissals on Tuesday. Fox News aired part of an interview on Sunday where Musk mused over his shifting public image, remarking, “I used to be adored by the left” but now finds himself “less so these days” following his actions under Trump’s leadership.

Musk also touched on the political atmosphere, noting, “They call it Trump derangement syndrome. You don’t realize how real this is until you can’t reason with people,” and he spoke of the challenge in engaging Democrats in logical discussions about the president because “it’s like they’ve become completely irrational.”

In the same vein, Trump addressed speculation of a falling out during the interview, pointing out that media outlets are trying to fabricate a “divorce” between him and Musk.

“He said, ‘You know, they’re trying to drive us apart.’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’ You know, they said, ‘We have breaking news: Donald Trump has ceded control of the presidency to Elon Musk,'” Trump recounted, criticising the media’s tactics. “And I say, it’s just so obvious. They’re so bad at it. I used to think they were good at it. They’re actually bad at it, because if they were good at it, I’d never be president because I think nobody in history has ever gotten more bad publicity than me.”

From his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump has been furiously penning a flurry of new executive orders. These come hot on the heels of a bevy of controversial orders touching on hot-button topics like transgender rights and border security.

Come Tuesday night, the lavish surrounding of Mar-a-Lago are set to play host to an awards gala put on by America’s Future, a group steered by Flynn staunchly advocating for individual freedoms and vowing to protect American values and heritage as declared on their website. The event is a toast to American exceptionalism, poised to pay tribute to service members across all branches of the military: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Space Force.

The evening promises a swanky poolside reception complete with musical entertainment and a banquet in the opulent Grand Ballroom of Mar-a-Lago, where additional accolades are expected to be dished out by a glittering assembly that counts Russell Brand, Ted Nugent, and Mike Tyson amongst its ranks. Whether Trump will grace the stage during the festivities remains shrouded in speculation.

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