Musk extends Olive branch to Trump amid strained relationship

Daily Mail​

21 hours ago

Elon Musk attempted to de-escalate his spiraling feud with Donald Trump last night as White House aides organize a crisis call between the warring billionaires. The bromance between the world's richest and most powerful men was in tatters on Thursday with Musk calling for Trump to be impeached after linking him to Jeffrey Epstein and the president urged to deport the Space X boss.
The clash, which began over Musk's opposition to Trump's 'big, beautiful bill', quickly evolved into personal insults and prompted the president to suggest that Musk's multibillion-dollar government contracts should be ripped away. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman stepped into the fray, posting a plea on X for the two men to reconcile 'for the benefit of our great country,' warning that 'we are much stronger together than apart.' Musk, who became one of Trump's closest allies during the election campaign and then as head of his DOGE cost cutting taskforce, responded with a brief but telling reply: 'You're not wrong.'
The unexpected comment was seen by some as an olive branch, suggesting he may be eager to deescalate their feud which finally exploded in public after weeks of rumored tension. Trump's aides are reportedly organizing a call between the president and his former 'First Buddy' for Friday to smooth over the fallout that threatens to tear apart MAGA and destabilize DC. Trump last night appeared to shrug off the stunning public feud in an interview with Politico. 'Oh it's okay,' he said during a phone call, before touting his recent polling: 'It's going very well, never done better. 'The numbers are through the roof, the highest polls I've ever had and I have to go.' Trump had earlier threatened to terminate Musk's lucrative federal contracts with allies suggesting he and his companies be stripped of security clearances.
One of his oldest advisors, Steve Bannon (pictured), went further and suggested the government seize SpaceX under the Defense Production Act - a move that would undoubtedly trigger challenges. Musk, who had threatened to decommission the SpaceX Dragon capsule - a critical lifeline for transporting American astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station - ultimately retreated. After a user on X suggested he 'cool off and take a step back for a couple of days', Musk abruptly posted: 'Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon.' While the Defense Production Act gives the president broad powers to p rioritize contracts deemed necessary for national defense, it does not explicitly authorize outright seizure or nationalization of private companies.
Trump could target Musk in other ways, such as targeting his contracts, clearances, and federal partnerships. SpaceX has been awarded over $17 billion in government contracts since 2015, according to ABC News. Much of that money comes from NASA and the Department of Defense. Tesla has also received approximately $1 billion according to the latest figures from February. Bannon suggested the Defense Production Act - a national security measure dating back to the Korean War era - was the best way for Trump to strike back at Musk and his companies. 'The United States government should take possession of it (Space X),' Bannon declared on his 'War Room Live' broadcast. 'Elon Musk is here illegally. He's got to go,' Bannon insisted, despite the fact that Musk, originally from South Africa, has been a naturalized US citizen for more than twenty years.
Bannon - who has long openly criticized the billionaire - called Musk an 'unstable individual' and a 'national security issue,' pointing to The New York Times report that charted the DOGE leader's drug use. 'President Trump is a bull and Elon is a baby calf.' In a phone interview on Thursday with The New York Times, Bannon added: 'They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately.' The spat between Musk and Trump broke out early Thursday after the SpaceX boss ramped up his opposition to the Republican-led 'big, beautiful bill.' The budget reconciliation bill will reportedly add trillions to the national deficit, a move that enraged Musk and added to his departure from the Trump Administration.
Musk had been overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which had claimed to have saved the US tens of billions of dollars on so-called wasteful government projects. DOGE's goal had been to get that number into the trillions but Musk claimed the bill 'undermined' his efforts. The fractures in their relationship were finally made plain for all to see on Thursday as they took to X and Truth Social to exchange barbs. Whilst Trump was hosting the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office he was asked about Musk's recent criticism. From there, the dam broke. 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will any more, I was surprised,' Trump told reporters.
The president suggested that Musk was angry - not over the bill ballooning the deficit - but because the Trump administration has pulled back on electric vehicle mandates, which negatively impacted Tesla , and replaced the Musk-approved nominee to lead NASA, which could hinder SpaceX's government contracts. 'And you know, Elon's upset because we took the EV mandate, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles, and they're having a hard time the electric vehicles and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy,' Trump said. 'I know that disturbed him.' Last weekend, Trump pulled the nomination of Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman had worked alongside Musk at SpaceX. 'He recommended somebody that I guess he knew very well, I'm sure he respected him, to run NASA and I didn't think it was appropriate and he happened to be a Democrat, like totally Democrat,' Trump continued. 'We won, we get certain privileges and one of the privileges is we don't have to appoint a Democrat.'
Musk posted to X while Trump's Q&A with reporters was ongoing. 'Whatever,' the billionaire wrote. 'Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,' he advised. 'In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that [is] both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this!' Musk continued. 'Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.' The spat quickly turned personal with Musk then posting that Trump would have lost the 2024 election had it not been for the world's richest man - him.
Musk had publicly endorsed Trump on the heels of the July 13th assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania and poured around $290 million of his fortune into the Republican's campaign. The billionaire also joined Trump on the campaign trail when he returned to the site of the Butler shooting in early October, a month before Election Day. Trump said in the Oval that he likely still would have won Pennsylvania without Musk's help and because Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris didn't choose the state's governor, Josh Shapiro, to be her running mate. Even with Shapiro on the ticket, Trump claimed, 'I would have won Pennsylvania, I would have won by a lot.' Musk said that was laughable. 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,' Musk claimed. 'Such ingratitude,' the billionaire added.
The 53-year-old Musk also asserted he had more staying power than the 78-year-old president. 'Oh and some food for thought as they ponder this question: Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years,' Musk said Thursday afternoon, responding to a post from MAGA agitator Laura Loomer. After his meeting with Merz, Trump continued to throw punches online. Trump asserted that he had asked Musk to leave his administration and said the billionaire went 'CRAZY!' 'Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!' Trump wrote.
Trump didn't directly respond to Musk's Epstein charge, instead posting what amounted to a shrug on Truth Social, while also continuing to back the 'big, beautiful bill.' 'I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,' Trump wrote. 'This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.' Asked for comment, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Mail in a statement: 'This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.' 'The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again,' Leavitt added.