Steve Bannon praises Trump as a sophisticated businessman, says Scott Bessent is a safe pair of hands
Did Musk's plan work?
Bannon attacks Musk's tech ideas
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Steve Bannon, ex-White House chief strategist, spoke at the Semafor World Economy Summit in April. He praised Donald Trump, calling him a 'very sophisticated businessman', as per reports.Bannon also praised Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary, calling him a 'safe pair of hands.' He said Bessent deeply understands capital markets and 'tells the truth even if you don't like it.' Bessent has 30 years of experience in the markets.Bannon supported Bessent during a power fight with Elon Musk over who would become the IRS commissioner. Musk's pick only lasted three days before getting replaced by Bessent's choice. Bannon said if Howard Lutnick had gotten the job, it would've been a 'disaster.' Bannon backed Trump's economic populism and new tariff strategies, saying Trump has good instincts, as stated in the report by Benzinga.Meanwhile, Elon Musk tried to change the government through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).Musk said he would save $2 trillion and make the government smaller. But his plan caused chaos and backlash. It didn't work out, and now he's out of government.Bannon said Musk didn't understand how big and complex the federal government is. He said if you want to stop waste, you have to look at the Pentagon and defense spending. Bannon also said Musk never showed clear proof of the budget cuts DOGE claimed to make, as per reports.He added, 'None of this makes sense,' and asked for details on what fraud Musk found. Bannon went further and called Musk's Neuralink project 'satanism with a brain chip.' He also said, 'Elon was always evil,' and called him a 'techno-feudalist', as stated in the report by Business Insider.Bannon claimed Musk's goal is to take over the future of humans using tech. Bannon sees himself as someone fighting for 'human-centered governance' while Musk wants a tech-run world. This shows that there's a big personal and political rivalry between Bannon and Musk, both trying to be powerful in Trump's world.He said Musk's government plan failed and called his tech ideas dangerous.He called Trump a smart businessman with strong instincts on the economy.
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