Trump-Musk feud: ‘Alphas' clash triggers Russian mockery and EU invite

News24

a day ago

Brendan Smialowski/AFP
US President Donald Trump has no plans to speak to billionaire Elon Musk and may even ditch his red Tesla car, the White House said on Friday after a stunning public divorce fraught with risk for both men.
Trump's camp insisted that he wanted to move on from the row with the South African-born Musk, with officials telling AFP that the tech tycoon had requested a call but that the president was not interested.
The Republican instead intended to focus on getting the US Congress to pass his 'big, beautiful' spending bill - Musk's harsh criticisms of which had triggered the meltdown on Thursday.
Fallout from the blow up between the world's richest person and its most powerful could be significant, as Trump risks political damage and Musk faces the loss of huge US government contracts.
Trump phoned reporters at several US broadcast networks to insist that he was looking past the row. He called Musk 'the man who has lost his mind' in a call to ABC and told CBS he was 'totally' focused on the presidency.
The White House meanwhile squashed earlier reports that they would talk.
'The president does not intend to speak to Musk today,' a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity. A second official said it was 'true' that Musk had requested a call.
'Alphas having a go at each other'
Musk's father, Errol weighed in on the spat in an interview with Al Arabiya, saying, 'it seems a bit silly to me'. Labelling money that is being given to the Democrats to vote for the bill as 'schemes', Errol said Musk is concerned and feels it is 'not the right thing to do', although he hasn't spoken to Musk since the fallout.
The spat is 'just a bump in the road,' according to Errol, who says he messaged his son and told him to 'make sure this fizzles out. Now.'
When people have been through a great deal of stress, as they've been... you can expect this kind of thing. Eventually, people reach a point where they lash out. I think there's a bit of tiredness here.
Errol Musk
He believes the president will prevail, because the Americans are '100% behind Trump'.
The reasoning behind Musk bringing up the Epstein files, according to Errol, is because people lash out. 'That's a silly mistake. Let the innocent person cast the first stone.'
In Errol's opinion, 'it's just elephant bulls or alphas, having a go at each other'.
The feud between Trump and Musk provoked chatter, mockery and amusement among the ruling class in Moscow, where one senior official joked about hosting peace talks and another said Musk should bring his businesses to Russia.
'Elon, don't be upset!' nationalist senator Dmitry Rogozin, who once ran Russia's space programme, wrote on Musk's X social media site. 'If you encounter insurmountable problems in the US, come to us. Here you will find reliable comrades and complete freedom of technical creativity.'
Elon @elonmusk, don't be upset! You are respected in Russia. If you encounter insurmountable problems in the US, come to us and become one of us - a "Bars-Sarmat" fighter. Here you will find reliable comrades and complete freedom of technical creativity.
— ROGOZIN (@Rogozin) June 6, 2025
Dmitry Medvedev, a senior security official and former president, posted: '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!'
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😱!
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) June 6, 2025
The public feud between the US president and the world's richest man was an easy target for Russian politicians who have a history of gloating over perceived turmoil in Washington.
Musk 'very welcome' in Europe
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the European Commission quipped on Friday that Musk is 'very welcome' in Europe.
At the commission's daily briefing, spokesperson Paula Pinho was asked whether Musk had reached out to the European Union (EU) with a view to relocating his businesses, or setting up new ones.
'He's very welcome,' she replied with a smile.
The commission's spokesperson for tech matters, Thomas Regnier, followed up by stressing - straight-faced - that 'everyone is very welcome indeed to start and to scale in the EU'.
'That is precisely the objective of Choose Europe,' he said, referencing an EU initiative in favour of start-ups and expanding businesses.
READ | Chainsaw politics: How Elon Musk shot up in Trump orbit before flaming out of DOGE
Musk has been a frequent critic of the 27-nation EU - attacking its digital laws as censorship and berating its leaders, while cheering on the ascendant far-right in Germany and elsewhere.
The tycoon's row with Trump saw the president threaten to strip him of government contracts estimated at $18 billion - with Musk vowing in response to end a critical US spaceship programme.
Explaining the rift, Trump said Musk had gone 'crazy' about a plan to end electric vehicle subsidies in the new US spending bill - as the bust-up sent shares in Musk's Tesla car company plunging.
Continuing with its mockery on Friday, Margarita Simonyan, one of Russia's most powerful state media executives, mocked it as an example of 'modern US political culture' - 'Sort of like the English Industrial Revolution. Only in reverse.'
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, who has in the past tried to interest Musk in cooperating with Russia on flights to Mars, asked on X: 'Why can't we all just get along?' He then asked Grok, X's AI chatbot, how Musk and Trump could reconcile.
Why can't we all just get along?
— Kirill A. Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) June 5, 2025
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, when asked about the clash, said it was an internal matter for the US, though he was confident that Trump would handle it.
'Presidents handle a huge number of different things at the same time, some more and some less important,' Peskov said.
Others saw clear benefit for Russia from the feud distracting Washington.
'We can just be glad that they won't have time for us,' said Konstantin Malofeyev, a hardline nationalist tycoon, who said it was now 'the best time to strike back' against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Trump is considering offloading a Tesla he said he bought earlier this year to show support for Musk, a White House official said on Friday.
The red electric vehicle, which retails for around $80 000, was still in a parking lot on the White House grounds on Friday, an AFP reporter said.
'He's thinking about it, yes,' a senior White House official told AFP when asked if the Republican would sell or give away the Tesla.
Tesla stocks had tanked more than 14% on Thursday amid the row, losing some $100 billion of the company's market value, but leapt back in early trading on Friday.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP
Trump, who does not drive as a president, said he was buying the Tesla in March to boost support for his mega-donor, whose brand - and bottom line - has been hit hard by public outrage over his role in slashing US government jobs.
At a choreographed publicity stunt that turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom, Trump praised the EV as a 'great product' and lashed out on social media at 'Radical Left' attacks against the world's richest person and his company.