The latest cover of Time magazine has billionaire Elon Musk sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office-a provocative choice that seems calculated to get under the skin of US President Donald Trump. The striking red cover shows Musk, coffee in hand, positioned between American and presidential flags-a visual commentary on current political dynamics.
Joining the cover is an in-depth article on what they term Musk’s “war on Washington, where he apparently is restructuring the federal government and leaving “millions of government workers at the mercy” of the DOGE chief.
The timing of the magazine seems almost intentional. President Trump brushed off the cover at a press briefing saying he hadn’t seen the latest issue. He made light of Time’s relevance, asking if the magazine was “still in business,” just weeks after touting his recognition as the magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ for 2024-a title he first received following his 2016 election victory.
Responding to media inquiries while meeting with the Japanese prime minister, Trump reiterated his unfamiliarity with the magazine’s current issue. “No. Is Time Magazine still in business? I didn’t even know that,” he remarked.
Though impartial, Trump praised Musk for bringing into view “tremendous fraud and corruption and waste” within the federal workforce. Musk and his DOGE team reportedly are taking center stage in the restructuring of the nation’s 2.2-million-member federal workforce, an agency Trump christened the Department of Government Efficiency.
“He’s got a staff that’s fantastic,” Trump said, adding that Musk would shortly be made available to the news media to share his plans to reorganize the government. Though pretending ignorance of Time’s fate, Trump earlier bragged about his picture on the magazine cover, telling an interviewer last December, “Time Magazine, getting this honour for the second time, I think I like it better this time actually.”.
