President Donald Trump sought to put his explosive feud with former ally Elon Musk behind him, saying the tech mogul had “lost his mind” and that he “won’t be speaking to him for a while.”
A simmering feud between Trump and Musk erupted dramatically on Thursday, with a series of extraordinary statements. Trump downplayed Musk’s importance in the 2024 elections, said he’d gone “CRAZY,” and threatened to cancel federal contracts for his companies. Musk said Trump would have lost the 2024 election without his help and claimed Trump was withholding the release of the Epstein files because they implicated him.
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The day after, Trump took a stoic approach to the matter in phone calls with CNN and ABC News.
“I’m not even thinking about Elon. He’s got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem,” Trump told CNN in a phone interview.
When asked about reports that a phone call was arranged between the two on Friday, the president responded, “No.”
“I won’t be speaking to him for a while, I guess, but I wish him well,” he said.
He was harsher in an interview with ABC News, saying, “You mean the man who has lost his mind?” when asked about a phone call between the two.
Trump added that he was “not particularly” interested in talking to Musk right now. Musk wanted to speak with him, but he wasn’t ready to.
People close to the president said he was more sad than angry regarding Musk. One adviser said he seemed “bummed” about the matter.
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After the initial blowup, Musk seemed to cool down and aim for reconciliation. He told investor Bill Ackman, “You’re not wrong,” in response to a post on X calling for the two to “make peace,” saying, “We are much stronger together than apart.”
Despite some jokes lightening the situation, his posts claiming Trump was implicated in the Epstein files, his retweeting of articles and videos showing their decades-old association, and the claim that Trump’s tariffs would lead to a recession remained online.