Trump says he wants Musk to 'thrive' as Epstein scrutiny continues
Mr Trump made the comments on his Truth Social platform on Thursday morning local time, over a month after the pair had a public falling out which eventually led the world's richest man to found an alternative political party.
"Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon's companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so!," Mr Trump said.
"I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE."
The US president and the tech billionaire had been close allies before and for the months after Mr Trump began his second term.
But relations between the two soured after Mr Musk criticised the president's "big beautiful bill" legislation for adding trillions to US government's debt and undermining his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Mr Trump has maintained the space and automotive billionaire was unhappy because the bill would remove incentives for consumers to buy electric vehicles, such as those made by Tesla.
A week after the spat in June, Reuters reported the White House had directed the Defense Department and NASA to gather details on billions of dollars in SpaceX contracts to ready possible retaliation against the Mr Musk and his companies.
Mr Trump also publicly pondered whether to deport Mr Musk, who is a naturalised US citizen.
On Wednesday, the tech billionaire also warned investors that US government cuts to electric vehicle makers could lead to a "rough few quarters" for Tesla.
Before the relationship soured, Mr Musk had spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help Mr Trump win November's presidential election and led the Department of Government Efficiency's chaotic effort to slash the budget and cut the federal workforce.
Mr Trump's new-found warmth for Mr Musk comes as he faces considerable and sustained pressure from some of his own supporters over his handling of the Epstein case.
During their public spat, Mr Musk posted and then deleted that Mr Trump's name was mentioned in files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
On Thursday local time, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was scheduled to meet Ghislane Maxwell, who was convicted of trafficking minors on behalf of the deceased paedophile and financier.
Multiple US media outlets reported Mr Blanche as expected to interview Maxwell at a federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida.
Maxwell, the daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell, is the only former Epstein associate who was convicted in connection with his activities, which right-wing conspiracy theorists allege included trafficking young models for VIPs.
Reuters/AFP
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