As Elon Musk takes a role in President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, a viral social media post cast doubt on his citizenship status.
“Elon Musk is NOT a Citizen of the United States and has NO Place anywhere near our government,” the Nov. 28 Threads post said, featuring a photo of Musk.
The Threads post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads and Instagram.)
This claim is inaccurate. Musk has been a U.S. citizen since 2002 according to a 2023 biography of Musk by journalist Walter Isaacson, CNN reported.
Musk was born in 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa, to a Canadian mother and a South African father. He moved to Canada at 17 and came to the U.S. in 1992 to study at the University of Pennsylvania.
An October Washington Post report said Musk worked without the proper authorization in the U.S. at the start of his career. Musk denied that after President Joe Biden amplified it during a campaign event for Vice PresidentKamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.
“I was in fact allowed to work in the US,” Musk wrote in an Oct. 27 X post. “I was on a J-1 visa that transitioned to an H1-B,” he added in a separate post that misplaced the hyphen in H-1B. A J-1 visa allows foreign students to study in the U.S. and an H-1B is a temporary work visa.
President-elect Donald Trump said Nov. 13 that Musk and fellow businessperson Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory commission aimed at slashing government spending and reducing regulations.
The U.S. Constitution says that people who are natural-born citizens are eligible to become U.S. presidents. But naturalized citizens may hold other federal offices, including within the presidential Cabinet.
We rate the claim that Musk is not a U.S. citizen False.
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
-
Entrepreneur Elon Musk was born in South Africa to Canadian and South African parents.
-
He immigrated to the U.S. as a student in 1992 and became a U.S. citizen in 2002, according to a 2023 biography.
Statement
Context
a photoSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Threads post (archived link), Nov. 28, 2024
PolitiFact, No, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy aren’t part of World Economic Forum; they’re critics, Nov. 13, 2024
The Washington Post, Elon Musk, enemy of ‘open borders,’ launched his career working illegally, Oct. 27, 2024
CNN, Elon Musk is sharing some details about his immigration path. Experts say they still have questions, Oct. 28, 2024
CNN, Elon Musk is one of illegal immigration’s harshest critics. He once described his past immigration status as a ‘gray area’, Sep. 29, 2024
U.S. Department of State, Programs, accessed Dec. 5, 2024
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, H-1B Specialty Occupations, accessed Dec. 5, 2024
Legal Information Institute, Natural born citizen, accessed Dec. 5, 2024
National Constitution Center, The Constitution and the President’s Cabinet, Dec. 20, 2016
Donald Trump, X post, Nov. 12, 2024
Elon Musk, X post, Oct. 27, 2024
Elon Musk, X post, Oct. 27, 2024
Translations
Language: en