A reunion of the world’s richest man and the most powerful may not be imminent, but at least one of them has now expressed his regrets as their relationship lies in ruins.
Elon Musk said on X in the early hours of Wednesday that he “regrets” some of the barbs he posted as he and President Donald Trump traded insults on social media and said they “went too far.”
Musk didn’t elaborate in his 3 a.m. ET message on which posts from last week he regretted and he didn’t explain what caused his sudden change of heart.
At the height of their online feud — sparked by landmark spending legislation Trump calls the “big, beautiful bill” — Musk said president wouldn’t have won the election without him and accused him of undermining the work of DOGE in cutting billions from federal budgets.
Musk referred to the bill as a “disgusting abomination” that would land the U.S. in unsustainable debt.
Trump on Saturday made clear his disappointment with his former ally, suggesting the U.S. government could cut its lucrative ties with Musk’s businesses and prompting the angry Tesla founder to highlight the president’s one-time links with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Musk replied “Yes” to an X user who suggested Trump should be impeached.
In an interview Saturday Trump told NBC News that there would be unspecified “serious consequences” for Musk were he to financially back any Democrat candidates in future elections who oppose the government’s sweeping budget bill.
President Donald Trump and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on the South Lawn of the White House in March.Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
The bill has already passed the House, but it could be rejected in the Senate with just four Republican defections needed to defeat it.
Musk has previously been an influential advisor to the Trump administration and a major Republican donor, leading the Department of Government Efficiencies in cutting billions from federal budgets and fronting election campaigns.
The pair showered each other with praise and the president invited Musk to attend cabinet meetings. Trump marked the official end of Musk’s government role with a ceremony in the Oval Office during which he handed the Tesla founder a symbolic golden key.
But as Trump’s priorities shifted to passing his budget bill and Musk wound down his time at the White House to return to his businesses, the relationship soured.
The stakes are high for Musk and his companies, some of which rely on government subsidies. Tesla lost $152 billion from its market capitalization in the wake of the spat, its biggest ever hit, but its stock price has since pared some of those losses.
