President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk traded politics for performance Wednesday night, joining opera singer Chris Macchio onstage at the “Winter White House” for a rousing rendition of “God Bless America.”
The musical display came during a party at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach as part of the ongoing festivities celebrating Trump’s imminent return to the Oval Office.
In a video shared by White House deputy director of communications Margo Martin, Trump and his billionaire “first buddy” can be seen flanking Macchio, all three of them belting out a rendition of the American classic in front of a delighted audience.
Both Trump and Musk can be seen gesticulating, raising their arms in the air and bringing them back down again, while Macchio hits his high notes. In the end, all three take hands and offer a bow before exiting the stage together.
The clip was met with a range of reactions online, many of them gushing over the incoming president and the Tesla CEO.
“STOP I physically can’t love President Trump any more than I already do or I will die,” one person wrote.
Others pointed out Musk’s confused facial expressions and the fact that he appeared to keep glancing at the professional opera singer, perhaps for guidance.
“Elon doesn’t know the words,” another wrote on Musk’s social media platform X.
Trump earlier this week announced Musk would head a newly created Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE — alongside onetime Republican presidential wannabe Vivek Ramaswamy. Despite its name, an apparent reference to the dogecoin cryptocurrency once championed by Musk, DOGE is not a government agency. Instead, the pair will provide “advice and guidance” to the White House in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget.
Trump’s statement on the matter quoted Musk as saying that “this will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!”
Elon Musk “has been seen at Mar-a-Lago nearly every single day since Donald Trump won, dining with him on the patio at times” and “weighing in on staffing decisions, making clear his preference for certain roles,” @kaitlancollins reports pic.twitter.com/iIueEaP7mi
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 11, 2024
The world’s richest man traveled to Mar-a-Lago to watch the election results come in last week and has reportedly spent “nearly every single day” since at Trump’s side, according to CNN.
“Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him,” Trump joked during a meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday. “At least until I don’t like him.”
