Elon Musk is 'renting' $2,000 a night Mar-a-Lago cottage so he can spend hours every day with Donald Trump
'First Buddy' Elon Musk has hunkered down at Donald Trump's exclusive Mar-a-Lago club as the president elect forms the agenda for his second term.
The Tesla billionaire - who has been a steadfast supporter of Trump since July - has even joined high stakes meetings while reportedly 'renting' a $2,000-per-night cottage just outside the main residence.
The world's richest man - and co-chair of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - has been busy sparring with both liberals and conservatives on social media in the past few days.
But Musk has become somewhat of a tenant at Trump's famous Florida club and is expected to return shortly.
The Tesla CEO has been staying at a cottage called 'Banyan' that rents at a rate of $2,000 each night and was once used by ex-Speaker of the House John Boehner, not far from the main house.
This allows Musk to visit Trump as frequently as he wants and sit in on his meetings with various important people, which has included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
He and his mother Maye Musk even spent Thanksgiving at Mar-a-Lago with the Trump family and stars like Sylvester Stallone which has led Trump to joke that Musk won't leave.
Elon has often been seen in personnel meetings and even on phone calls with dignitaries.
'First Buddy' Elon Musk (pictured right) is renting a $2,000-per-night cottage at Mar-a-Lago as he works as Donald Trump's closest ally ahead of the president-elect's second term
The Tesla CEO has been staying at a cottage called 'Banyan' at Mar-a-Lago that he rents at a rate of $2,000 each night at a cottage once used by ex-Speaker of the House John Boehner, not far from the main house
The head of Tesla and social media behemoth X has also invited his employees to join the transition team. His workers have been part of Trump's vetting process for hiring senior administration members, according to The New York Times.
Vice President-elect JD Vance has also been staying at Mar-a-Lago frequently since the election.
Musk's first stay at Mar-a-Lago began around Election Day before he briefly left for the Christmas holiday.
However, he is expected to return soon to assist with the final weeks before the inauguration.
While the $2,000-a-night rate is a previous estimate, it's unclear if Musk has had to pay up yet, as Trump often doesn't bill people for staying there until they leave.
Trump doesn't seem to mind the company, as he sent a cryptic message to his billionaire tech friend on Friday, hours after a brutal social media debate on immigration blew up in his face.
Musk is less the 'adopted son' of Trump some have joked and more a tenant at his famous Florida club
President-elect Donald Trump listens to Elon Musk as he arrives to watch SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lift off for a test flight from Starbase in Texas
'Where are you?' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. 'When are you coming to the 'Center of the Universe,' Mar-a-Lago.'
Trump also claimed that Musk's billionaire rival Bill Gates had asked to visit him on Friday evening.
'We miss you and x!' Trump wrote, presumably referring to Musk's son X Æ A-Xii, known as X. 'New Year's Eve is going to be AMAZING!!! DJT.'
The public post, which was seemingly directed toward Musk, spurred speculation that it was meant to be a private direct message to the billionaire.
Trump and Musk have made no comment on the arrangement.
He was last seen with Trump at the Army-Navy football game in Maryland on December 14.
Trump joked about the controversy during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest.
Since then, Musk blew up a proposed Republican spending deal by criticizing it on X, prompting an uproar in the House of Representatives and nearly shutting down the government.
Vice President-elect JD Vance has also been staying at Mar-a-Lago frequently since the election
Democrats responded by publicly asserting that Musk was the 'real' president who was controlling Trump and Republicans in Congress.
'No, he's not going to be president, that I can tell you,' Trump said about Musk. 'And I'm safe. You know why he can't be? He wasn't born in this country.'
Musk was born in South Africa.
Trump's latest social media message to Musk took place after the billionaire engaged in a heated conversation about importing skilled foreign tech workers with H1-B visas, claiming it was essential to growing tech companies.
'The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,' Musk wrote, warning of the 'dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.'
Musk shared several posts on X defending the need for skilled foreign labor.
'There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley,' he wrote.
Musk asked his followers to consider United States companies trying to recruit the best talent to their organizations as if they were a sports team.
Trump speaking at Turning Point USA's annual AmericaFest in Phoenix on December 22
'If you force the world's best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE. End of story,' he wrote.
But Musk's critics argued that H1-B visas were abused by American companies to bring in foreign workers rather than hire qualified American workers.
Both Trump and his running mate JD Vance have campaigned on the idea of reforming the H1-b visa program to prioritize American workers.
'I know the H1-b very well, it's something I use and I shouldn't be allowed to, we shouldn't have it. Very very bad for workers… it's very bad for our workers and very unfair for our workers and we should end it,' Trump said in 2016.
Trump has made several jokes since the election about how he can't get rid of Musk, who became a major ally, fundraiser and organizer for the president's successful campaign win over Kamala Harris.
At the House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill, Trump reportedly joked: 'Elon won't go home.'
'I can't get rid of him. Until I don't like him.'
Seated front and center at the gathering was the world's richest man, Musk.
Musk has been a near permanent fixture at the center of the Trump transition since the ex-president won the 2024 election with considerable campaign help from the businessman.
Trump's granddaughter Kai has even dubbed Musk 'Uncle Elon.'
It comes after Trump announced Musk will co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency along with 2024 GOP presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump said in his statement it would pave the way for his administration to dismantle 'Government Bureaucracy' and that would be 'potentially, "The Manhattan Project" of our time.'
'We finally have a mandate to delete the mountain of choking regulations that do not serve the greater good,' Musk wrote Wednesday on X, which he also owns.
But the move has also been met with criticism as Musk's companies have tangled with the very agencies he will now be dealing with directly.
