Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon debuted a new nickname for President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk during his opening monologue—and people ran with it, spawning a new hashtag in the process.
The meeting represents the latest in a series of visits by tech executives to Trump’s South Florida residence, as they seek to influence the incoming administration, including some Silicon Valley leaders who distanced themselves from Trump during his previous term.
Musk has become a regular fixture in Trump’s circle—but his involvement has led to criticisms that Trump isn't actually calling the shots, especially after Musk had a hand in scuttling a key spending bill that almost culminated in a full government shutdown.
Fallon's joke unfolded during one of his signature he-said, she-said sketches, where he creates humorous imaginary dialogues between well-known figures. In his opening monologue, Fallon began by noting that Jeff Bezos had a “pretty successful” meeting with President-elect Trump, then transitioned to a mock exchange between Bezos and Trump to recount how it supposedly went.
Speaking as the pretend Amazon CEO, Fallon said:
“I enjoyed discussing the future of Amazon with the President-elect."
"Trump" replied:
“I’m eager to help Amazon grow into an even greater company."
At that point, "Musk" entered the bit, adopting the persona of Trump’s possessive, jealous partner:
“Sooo...was this like a casual thing? I just think it’s weird you didn’t tell me about it.”
After "Bezos" said he looks forward "to meeting with Trump again soon," Fallon as "Musk" dropped the punchline:
“Whoa, Jeff! Haha! You know Trump already has a billionaire, right? I mean, we’re a pretty public item! #Elonald"
"Bezos" then assured "Musk" that he and "Trump" are "just friends," which prompted "Musk" to say:
"Hands off my zaddy!"
You can hear what he said in the video below.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
And not long after, the nickname spawned the hashtag #Elonald—with the jokes, much like the recent #PresidentMusk hashtag, often portraying Trump as subservient to Musk.
Amid backlash over Musk's role in blocking the emergency spending measure to prevent a government shutdown, Trump rejected claims that Musk is overshadowing him.
Trump dismissed the idea that he had “ceded the presidency” to Musk. He added that even if Musk aspired to the role, he wouldn’t qualify due to the Constitution’s stipulation that the U.S. president must be a natural-born citizen—a requirement Musk, born in South Africa, does not meet.
Trump said:
“No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you. And I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country.”
Democrats have voiced concerns about Musk’s growing influence over congressional Republicans. The Lincoln Project, a prominent anti-Trump group, released a video dubbing Trump the “vice president” to “President Musk.”
Republicans, however, have worked to minimize the appearance of any discord between the two figures. Trump’s team dismissed the allegations as “ridiculous,” insisting that there is no rift.
But if there's one thing we do know, it's that the thin-skinned Trump likely won't tolerate Musk for too long.
