BBC NEWS, in era, Pennsylvania
Sitting at a breakfast table in the era, Pennsylvania, four veterans in the mid 80s – John, Jack, Bob and Don – are going to remind their decades of friendship.
But this is another Don, this at the end of the 70s, which continues to creep into his conversation: President Donald Trump.
Of the four, Bob only voted for Trump. But when he saw Elon Musk, which stands next to the Republican president in the oval office this week, defending his efforts to reduce the size and expenses of the federal government, he is already in doubt.
“I’m afraid of it,” says Bob about Musk. “I think he is trying to become president.”
The era was one of the key sites that helped the 2024 presidential election in favor of Trump. The Republican won 50.1% of the vote here only four years after his democratic competitor Joe Biden narrowly took the county.
And part of Trump’s winning platform became a clear promise of overhaul and strengthen the federal government, obliging the company’s path to deliver “trillion” in cuts. Polls showed that they were popular with national voters, and this remains now.
Before the elections, it was less clear how much the front line would play in this administration. The 53-year-old Tesla, SpaceX and X owner now manages the Government Efficiency Department (DOGE), which is devoted to the government’s reduction and is usually depicted with the president.
The members of his teams entered different departments to monitor the costs and offered millions of work route. They have moved to the freezing of federal financing, as well as the work of agencies such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the blizzard in recent weeks.
But given the scale of Moscow’s influence on the Trump administration, the Democrats are concerned about the conflict of interest, as well as Musk, whose company has billions in the federal government contracts, potentially taking actions to benefit.
“This is dangerous. This is against the interests of America,” said the Senior Democrat Chuck Sumer. “And the President of Trump needs to show some leadership and rule in Dogel before causing more harm.”
This concern was shared by John Pelinsky, a lifetime Democrat, who threw his newsletter for Donald Trump in the November election. He said the Democrats had unfolded too far to the left, and wanted Trump to help “focus the country” four years.
Although he does not regret his voice, he says Musk makes him feel difficult.
“He had a young child with him in the oval office,” he said. “I’m not quite comfortable.”
“I think the impact of Musk can be too much on the president,” he added. “I see it too much. It should just follow your SpaceX and Electric Cars.”
Meanwhile, Musk realized that he believed he was working on the wishes of Trump’s voters.
“People voted for major state reform, and this is what people are going,” he told reporters during an unexpected appearance of the White House this week. “That’s what democracy is about.”
Recent poll by American partner BBC CBS News News He suggested that most Americans advocated Musk’s work, but did not agree on what influence he had to have.
The era had a lot of fans in delight when he saw not one businessman, but two, having held a show in Washington.
Christina Barber has abandoned problems and said that the American people had chosen Trump to rule the country, and he appointed Musk to help him do so.
“Personally, I love him,” she said about Musk.
“In financial terms and in terms of business, we need a person who knows what the hell they do. And if anyone does it, it’s Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”
Patrick Laflan had a similar species. He said he trusted Trump and the mask “to the extent you can trust the one you don’t know.”
“The guy is obviously brilliant,” Laflan said. “He is doing a good job of trying to get rid of waste. Both of these gentlemen are trying to return the money to Americans.”
Evan Lagoche, the head of the restaurant, here took the cuts Musk to the system, which he views as swollen and ineffective. He said he praised that the technological billionaire “sacrifices his time to help correct a serious problem.”
“As he did in a micro -speech with Twitter, he could hope to do the same with our country,” Lagache said, citing mass layoffs and costs conducting Musk, implemented after buying a company on social media.
As for the allegations that Musk became too powerful in this White House, Lagas said it did not bother him.
“He is already extremely powerful,” he said. “It doesn’t matter.”
