Q&A: Musk and Trump's bust-up, the 'Big Beautiful Bill' and the Biden investigation
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Our US correspondents Mark Stone and David Blevins answer your listener questions.
They discuss the very public breakdown in relations between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the president's "Big Beautiful Bill", and if it is fair for Trump to investigate Joe Biden.
If you've got a question you'd like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.
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Daily Mail
14 minutes ago
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Elon Musk bows to Trump: Tesla boss admits posts attacking the president 'went too far' in humiliating climb down after their spectacular feud
Elon Musk has said that he regrets some of the posts he made last week about Donald Trump in a humiliating climbdown from his online feud with the president. 'I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far,' Musk wrote in a message on his social media platform X on Wednesday. He did not say which specific posts he was talking about. Tesla shares in Frankfurt were up 2.44% after Musk's post. Trump and Musk exchanged insults last week after the former DOGE boss described the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a 'disgusting abomination.' A full spat exploded in public as Trump said his relationship with Musk was over, threatening to take away government funding from Musk's SpaceX company. But Musk doubled down, escalating with a now-deleted post that claimed the president appears in documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump rejected the allegations and told ABC News that Musk had 'lost his mind', making clear he has no immediate plans to reconcile. Musk has also since deleted a post signaling support for impeaching the president. Sources close to Musk had said his anger has started to subside, and that they believe he may want to repair his relationship with Trump. The abrupt volte-face comes after Trump threatened 'serious consequences' for Musk if he sought to punish Republicans voting in favour of the controversial spending bill. Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Musk to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump named Musk to head an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. 'He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,' Trump, who also branded Musk 'disrespectful,' told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be. There were reports that said Trump planned to sell off the Tesla he purchased earlier this year. 'I haven't heard that, I mean, I may move the Tesla around a little bit,' Trump told reporters Monday. Musk's father said on Monday that the spat was triggered by months of intense stress on both sides, and that it needed to stop. Asked whether he thought his son had made a mistake by engaging in a public clash with the president, Errol Musk said people were sometimes unable to think as clearly as they should 'in the heat of the moment.' 'They've had five months of intense stress,' Musk told Reuters at a conference in Moscow organised by conservative Russian tycoons. Elon Musk was asked about The New York Times story during his May 30th going away event in the Oval Office alongside the president. He pushed back and mocked the newspaper for its 'Russiagate' coverage, but later denied the Times' report on his social media site, X 'With all the opposition cleared and two people left in the arena, all they have ever done is get rid of everything and now they are trying to get rid of each other - well that has to stop.' Asked how it would end, he said: 'Oh, it will end on a good note - very soon.' Musk's father told reporters he was standing by his son. 'Elon is sticking to his principles but you cannot always stick to your principles in the real world,' Musk's father said. 'Sometimes you have to give and take.' Trump has, in recent days, held back on criticising Musk and publicly wished him the best. On Monday, the president was asked about a New York Times report that said while campaigning for Trump, Musk had been doing so much ketamine it was affecting his bladder, while also taking Ecstasy and psychadelic mushrooms. Trump said: 'I really don't know, I don't think so, I hope not.' He then added, 'I wish him well ... I just wish him well, very well, actually.' He also said he'd keep Musk's Starlink system in place. Trump also said he never saw Musk get physical with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which had also been alleged. 'No I didn't,' the president answered. 'They did have an argument, but I didn't see a lot of physicality there,' Trump said. Musk had roundly denied the allegations of drug use.
Reuters
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UKMTO warns of possible impact on mariners from increase in Middle East tension
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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Some Tesla owners sue Elon Musk's company for damaging their reputation
A group of Tesla owners in France is suing Elon Musk 's car company, alleging its vehicles have become "far-right totems" that are harming their reputation, according to the law firm representing the group. The group is seeking to terminate their lease contracts and recover legal costs at the Paris Commercial Court, citing the "direct and concrete" harm caused by Musk's public behaviour after he rallied in support of Donald Trump 's presidential bid and Germany's far-right AfD party. The lawsuit comes amid plummeting Tesla sales in key European markets, including France, Britain, Germany, and Italy, partly in protest of Musk's political activities and as customers favour Chinese electric vehicles due to their competitive prices. "Tesla vehicles have become powerful political symbols and are now perceived as true far-right 'totems,' much to the dismay of those who purchased them solely as innovative and eco-friendly vehicles", the plaintiffs' lawyers Patrick Klugman and Ivan Terel, at law firm GKA said. Tesla Europe did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. GKA said about 10 Tesla leaseholders had joined the lawsuit. Musk helped bankroll Trump's presidential campaign and spearheaded Trump's efforts to cut federal jobs and slash what the administration perceived as wasteful public spending. Musk's involvement in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) saw him become a political lightning rod, fueling protests and vandalism at Tesla showrooms in the United States and Europe. The GKA statement referred to a hand gesture by the billionaire during Trump's inauguration celebrations that drew online comparisons to a Nazi salute as an example of his harmful behaviour. Musk dismissed the criticism of the gesture as a "tired" attack. Musk said on Wednesday he regretted some of the remarks he made on the social media platform X, which he owns, during an acrimonious and very public falling out with Trump last week. 'I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far,' the world's richest man wrote. On the same day that Musk appeared to extend an olive branch, Trump said in a pre-recorded podcast interview that reconciliation between the pair was possible. 'Look, I have no hard feelings,' Trump said in the interview recorded on Monday. 'I was really surprised that that happened. He went after a bill that's phenomenal. …He just — I think he feels very badly that he said that, actually.'
