BBC Information, in Erie, Pennsylvania
Seated round a breakfast desk in Erie, Pennsylvania, 4 veterans of their mid-80s – John, Jack, Bob and Don – collect to reminisce about their many years of friendship.
However it’s one other Don, this one in his late 70s, who retains creeping into their dialog: President Donald Trump.
Of the 4, solely Bob voted for Trump. However after seeing Elon Musk standing subsequent to the Republican president within the Oval Workplace this week, defending his efforts to slash the dimensions and spending of the federal authorities, he’s already doubting his determination.
“I am afraid of him,” Bob says of Musk. “I believe he is attempting to be president.”
Erie County was one of many key battlegrounds that helped swing the 2024 presidential election in Trump’s favour. The Republican gained 50.1% of the vote right here simply 4 years after his Democratic rival Joe Biden narrowly took the county.
And a part of Trump’s profitable platform was a transparent promise to overtake and upend the federal authorities, pledging on the marketing campaign path to ship “trillions” in cuts if elected. Polls indicated that was in style with Republican voters, and that continues to be the case now.
What was much less clear to voters earlier than the election was simply how a lot of a frontline function Musk would play on this administration. The 53-year-old proprietor of Tesla, SpaceX and X now leads the Division of Authorities Effectivity (Doge) which is devoted to shrinking authorities and is routinely pictured alongside the president.
Members of his crew have entered varied departments to watch spending and provided tens of millions of staff an exit route. They’ve moved to freeze federal funding in addition to the work of businesses such because the US Company for Worldwide Growth (USAID) in a blizzard of exercise in latest weeks.
However given the size of Musk’s affect within the nascent Trump administration, Democrats are involved about conflicts of curiosity in addition to Musk, whose firms have billions in federal authorities contracts, probably taking actions to learn himself.
“That is harmful. That is towards America’s pursuits,” Senior Democrat Chuck Schumer stated. “And President Trump wants to indicate some management and reign in Doge earlier than it inflicts extra hurt.”
That concern was shared by John Pelinsky, a lifelong Democrat who in November’s election solid his poll for Donald Trump. He stated Democrats had swung too far to the left and he needed 4 years of Trump to assist “centre the nation”.
Whereas he doesn’t remorse his vote, he says Musk makes him really feel uneasy.
“He had his little child there with him within the Oval Workplace,” he stated. “I am not fairly snug with that.”
“I believe Musk’s affect could be just a little an excessive amount of on the president,” he added. “I am seeing an excessive amount of of him. He ought to simply stick together with his SpaceX and his electrical automobiles.”
Musk, in the meantime, has been clear that he believes he’s working to enact the desires of Trump’s voters.
“The folks voted for main authorities reform and that is what the persons are going to get,” he informed reporters throughout a shock White Home look this week. “That is what democracy is all about.”
A recent poll by the BBC’s US partner CBS News steered a majority of People have been in favour of Musk’s work however disagreed over how a lot affect he ought to have.
In Erie, loads of supporters have been thrilled to see not one billionaire businessman, however two, operating the present in Washington.
Christine Barber shrugged off issues and stated the American folks had elected Trump to run the nation and he had appointed Musk to assist him do this.
“Personally, I really like him,” she stated of Musk.
“Financially, and from a enterprise perspective, we’d like any person who is aware of what the heck they’re doing. And if anyone does, it is Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”
Patrick Laughlan had the same view. He stated he trusted Trump and Musk “to the extent you possibly can belief anyone you do not know”.
“The man’s clearly sensible,” Laughlan stated of Musk. “He is doing a superb job attempting to do away with waste. Each of these gents are attempting to get a refund to People.”
Evan Lagace, a restaurant supervisor right here, embraces Musk’s cuts to a system he views as bloated and inefficient. He stated he appreciated that the tech billionaire was “donating his time to the nation to assist repair a significant drawback”.
“Like he did in a micro facet with Twitter, he might hopefully do the identical factor with our nation,” Lagace stated, referring to the mass layoffs and spending cuts Musk applied after shopping for the social media firm.
As for the accusations that Musk had grown too highly effective on this White Home, Lagace stated it didn’t hassle him.
“He is already extraordinarily highly effective,” he stated. “It makes no distinction.”
