Things seem to have settled a bit between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump after a wild day Thursday in which Musk claimed that Trump is "in the Epstein files" and that's why they haven't been released, threatened to decommission Dragon, mused about starting a third political party, claimed Trump never would have won the general election without his help and that Trump was "so ungrateful," and endorsed an influencer's idea that Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should become president.
That all came after Trump was asked about Musk's escalating battle against the Big, Beautiful Bill, and Trump said:
"[Elon] knew every aspect of this bill; he knew it better than almost anybody. And he never had a problem until right after he left. And if you saw the statements he made about me — which I’m sure you can get very easily; it's very fresh on tape — he said the most beautiful things about me. And he hasn’t said bad about me personally, but I'm sure that'll be next. But I’m very disappointed in Elon; I’ve helped Elon a lot."
READ MORE: Trump Responds to Musk's Criticism of BBB: 'Very Disappointed in Elon'
By Thursday night, Musk was replying favorably to suggestions on X that the two should work out their differences for the good of the country, and that they shouldn't be having such a personal spat publicly.
So, where are we today?
Politico reported very late Thursday night that White House aides had scheduled a call Friday between Musk and Trump; as of the time of publication it's not clear whether that call ultimately took place, but judging by Trump's comments to multiple news outlets it's not looking good. When ABC News called Trump just before 7 AM Friday and asked him about reports that the two had a call scheduled, Trump replied with a question: "You mean the man who has lost his mind?"
He said Musk wants to talk to him, but he's not ready to talk to Musk.
Trump then talked for a couple of minutes about other things -- referring to inflation (down), foreign investment (up) and his plans for a visit to China (huge).
People close to Trump have described him as more sad than angry at Musk. One adviser who was with Trump on Thursday night said he seemed "bummed" about the breakup. And that's the way he sounded on Friday morning.
Trump is considering either giving away or selling the red Tesla he purchased to support Musk, a senior administration official told ABC News' Rachel Scott Friday morning. The Tesla was parked just on West Executive Avenue on Thursday. Trump made a show of checking out Tesla models at the White House in March as Musk's company took a hit as he arrived in Washington.
Trump made similar comments to Fox News:
President Donald Trump told Fox News on Friday that he isn't interested in talking to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, adding that "Elon's totally lost it."
Trump also said to Fox News' Bret Baier that he isn't worried about Musk's suggestion to form a new political party, citing favorable polls and strong support from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Fox News also reported that a senior White House official told them that "Trump does not expect to speak to Musk on Friday" but that White House aides might be setting up a call with Musk.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been making the cable news channel rounds Friday, expressing gratitude for Musk's role in DOGE.
Musk is much more reserved in his X posting Friday, and deleted some of his more inflammatory tweets, but is still heavily critical of the GOP (hey, he's gotta save face somehow).
Trump is headed to Bedminster, New Jersey for the weekend.
Right now, the best thing for everyone is to move forward. Hopefully Musk and Trump will be able to somewhat mend fences, but in my opinion Musk crossed too many lines to ever be fully trusted again.
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