Maggie Haberman Reports Elon Musk Has Been Pestering Trump to Give Him an Office in the West Wing

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Elon Musk wants to stay very, very close to President-elect Donald Trump — according to a new report from Maggie Haberman.

In a piece published late Sunday by The New York Times, Haberman and Jonathan Swan mentioned changes Trump is considering making to the White House. One such change is converting a room near the Oval Office to a “hangout space for his friends.” Haberman and Swan report that Musk will probably be a regular in that space. And, they added, Musk is looking for office space in the West Wing.

“Elon Musk, who has been asking for several days about whether he could have West Wing office space, is considered a likely presence on the couch if Mr. Trump follows through on the idea,” Haberman and Swan wrote.

Musk has already scored White House office space, according to a previous Times report. But that space is in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House. Haberman and Swan are now reporting that Musk wants an upgrade.

The question is: Will Trump consider the idea of Musk in the West Wing to be too close for comfort? In an early January podcast, Haberman said Trump has grown weary of Musk’s constant presence.

“A long-time Trump friend said something to me recently about how Trump is a one-ring circus,” Haberman told host Kara Swisher. “I’m not sure that Musk has figured that out yet. And Trump does complain a bit to people about how Musk is around a lot.”