Russian officials mocked the feud between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, offering to protect the Tesla CEO, who once issued a “single combat” challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
A falling out between the White House and Musk, a senior adviser and close friend to Trump for months, erupted on Thursday over the president’s sweeping “big, beautiful” tax cuts bill. The battle led former top Trump aide Steve Bannon to call for Musk’s arrest or deportation, citing allegations that he is an illegal immigrant.
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Russia assessed the feud in comments to state news outlet Tass, offering political asylum to Musk in case he required such assistance.
Dmitry Novikov, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said, “If he did [need political asylum], of course, Russia could offer it.”
However, Novikov added that he believes Musk is “playing a completely different game and he won’t be needing any political asylum” because, over the past several years, Musk has formed “a certain political communication,” so “individual disagreements will remain individual disagreements.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to weigh in on the fight during a press briefing Friday.
“Presidents handle a huge number of different things at the same time, some more and some less important. … This is a domestic issue of the United States, and we don’t intend to interfere,” he said, per Interfax. “We’re confident the U.S. president will handle this situation on his own. … Here, of course, the U.S. president may have his own point of view on what is happening.”
Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who is now installed as the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, added his own analysis of the situation in a sardonic post to social media.
“We are ready to facilitate the conclusion of a peace deal between D and E for a reasonable fee and to accept Starlink shares as payment. Don’t fight, guys!” Medvedev said.
If Musk ever did expatriate to Russia for asylum, he could find himself in even more danger, as critics of Putin often end up dead or imprisoned. In addition to Musk challenging Putin to a fight, his Starlink satellite internet has been vital to Ukrainian troops fighting against the Russian invasion.
The battle centers on Musk’s opposition to Trump’s tax cuts bill, which is being considered in the Senate. Musk views the measure as a bloated piece of legislation that will add to the national debt.
Trump has accused Musk of opposing his bill because it removes government subsidies to electric vehicle manufacturers such as Tesla.
In comments on the fallout Thursday evening, Trump said he has “always liked Elon,” adding that he was “very surprised” by his outrage.
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“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” the president said.
“He said wonderful things about me. He has worn the hat, ‘Trump was right about everything,’ and I am right about the great, big, beautiful bill. I’m very disappointed, because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people. He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the EV mandate,” Trump concluded.