The new cover of Time is sure to infuriate President Trump. 

The February 24 issue of the magazine depicts Elon Musk as president of the United States, sitting on the Resolute Desk, which is used by U.S. presidents in the Oval Office of the White House. 

Bluesky screenshot Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social‬: The new cover of TIME. (picture of Time Magazine Cover with Elon Musk holding a cup of coffee and smiling while sitting at the Resolute Desk)

Trump has long coveted being named “Man of the Year” by the magazine, complaining when he didn’t receive the honor in 2015 and rejoicing when he did in 2016 and 2024. Trump reportedly had a fake cover of himself on the magazine hanging in five of his golf clubs, The Washington Post reported in 2017. 

Seeing Musk stealing the limelight on the next cover will surely get under Trump’s skin, especially since a similar feud contributed to the undoing of the president’s former adviser Steve Bannon during his first term. In February 2017, exactly eight years ago, Bannon was also on the cover of Time and referred to as “The Great Manipulator,” adding to Trump’s reported annoyance with his chief strategist at the time. 

By the summer of that year, Bannon had left the White House, and Trump publicly disowned him in January 2018 after the book Fire and Fury revealed that Bannon had criticized Trump’s children. Is Time hoping that something similar will happen to Musk? The tech mogul was already irritating White House aides in the first week of Trump’s presidency, and now is reportedly driving Trump’s inner circle and Republicans in Congress crazy with his takeover of the federal government. 

The tech mogul and fascism enthusiast is rapidly losing popularity with Americans, even Republicans. Trump also hates to share the spotlight with anyone. A Trump-Musk split isn’t out of the realm of possibility.