TIME magazine, which named President Donald Trump as its 2024 “Person of the Year” (an honor it has bestowed on almost all American presidents), features an image of billionaire Trump donor and DOGE chief Elon Musk sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office on its latest cover.
With the dramatic photo, TIME wrote on Instagram: “The standoff at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue was not much of a spectacle. On the first day of February, a handful of men working for Elon Musk had come to the U.S. Agency for International Development, a few blocks away from the White House, demanding full access to its headquarters. The agency’s staff refused.
TIME’s new cover: Inside Elon Musk’s war on Washington https://t.co/95Qictx4zP pic.twitter.com/QZ73CZqtnM
— TIME (@TIME) February 7, 2025
“No guns were drawn. No punches thrown. Nobody involved the police. But in these early days of the Trump Administration, perhaps no other scene revealed more clearly the forces reshaping America’s government.”
[Note: 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue is — or was — the address of the now shuttered USAID agency, Musk’s first DOGE takedown.]
Note: As seen below, Musk was named TIME’s Person of the Year in 2021.
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) is TIME’s 2021 Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/8Y5BhIldNs pic.twitter.com/B6h6rndjIh
— TIME (@TIME) December 13, 2021
The image is sparking a variety of comments on social media including the snarky (and currently most popular): “Nice to see the First Lady on the cover,” and “Hmmm funny I don’t remember Elon Musk’s name being anywhere on my ballot back in November?”
Trump himself joked about the cover on Friday, taking a dig at the source and wondering aloud: “Is Time magazine still in business? I didn’t even know that.”
Reporter: “Mr. President, do you have any reaction to the new Time Magazine cover that has Elon Musk sitting behind your Resolute Desk?”
President Trump: “Is Time Magazine still in business? I didn’t even know that … Elon is doing a great job.” pic.twitter.com/MwvM9MhzlZ
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 7, 2025
Note: the photo-Illustration is a TIME creation using, as it credits, source photos from Chip Somodevilla-Getty Images; and Anna Moneymaker-Getty Images.
TIME’s deliberately provocative image was interpreted by many as a criticism of Trump, with its unsubtle implication that Musk is the power behind the throne.
But even among those holding that view, the TIME cover struck a nerve. As one commenter replied: “I know TIME thinks they are helping and throwing shade, but this isn’t it. This is how Elon wants to see himself in publication. TIME has spent these past few months doing more harm than good.”