Musk-Trump feud: US president says he is ‘focused on other matters'

Irish Times

a day ago

US
president
Donald Trump
is not interested in talking with
Elon Musk
, a White House official said on Friday, signalling the president and his former ally might not resolve their feud over a sweeping tax-cut Bill any time soon.
The White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no phone call between Mr Trump and the Tesla chief executive is planned for the day. Earlier, a different White House official had said the two were going to talk.
In interviews with several US media outlets, Mr Trump said he was focused on other matters.
'I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem, the poor guy's got a problem,' he told CNN.
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Mr Trump may get rid of the red Tesla Model S that he bought in March after showcasing Mr Musk's electric cars on the White House lawn, the official said.
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The White House statements came one day after the two men battled openly in an extraordinary display of hostilities that marked a stark end to a close alliance. During the exchange, Mr Trump suggested he would terminate government contracts with Mr Musk's businesses, which include rocket company SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink.
Tesla shares rose on Friday, managing to claw back some steep losses from the previous session when it dropped 14 per cent and lost $150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the company's history.
Mr Musk's high-profile allies have largely stayed silent during the feud. But one, investor James Fishback, called on Mr Musk to apologise.
'President Trump has shown grace and patience at a time when Elon's behaviour is disappointing and frankly downright disturbing,' Mr Fishback said in a statement.
Mr Musk, the world's richest man, bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Mr Trump named Mr Musk to head up a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending.
The falling-out began brewing on Tuesday. Mr Musk, who left his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) a week ago, denounced Mr Trump's tax-cut and spending Bill, which contains most of Trump's domestic priorities. His opposition is complicating efforts to pass the Bill in Congress where Republicans hold a slim majority.
Mr Musk denounced the package as a 'disgusting abomination' that would add too much to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt.
Just last week, Mr Trump feted him at the White House after he left his post at Doge. Musk cut only about half of 1 per cent of total spending, far short of his brash plans to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget.
Mr Trump's 'big, beautiful Bill' narrowly passed the House of Representatives last month and is now before the Senate, where Republicans say they will make further changes. Non-partisan analysts say the measure would add $2.4 trillion in debt over 10 years.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has been texting with Mr Musk and hopes the dispute is resolved quickly.
'I don't argue with him about how to build rockets and I wish he wouldn't argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it,' Mr Johnson said on CNBC.
Mr Trump had initially stayed quiet while Mr Musk campaigned to torpedo the bill, but broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was 'very disappointed' in Mr Musk.
'Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore,' he said.
The pair then traded barbs on their social media platforms: Mr Trump's Truth Social and Mr Musk's X.
'Without me, Trump would have lost the election,' wrote Musk, who spent nearly $300 million backing Mr Trump and other Republicans in last year's election.
Mr Musk also asserted that Mr Trump's signature import tariffs would push the US into a recession and responded 'Yes' to a post on X saying Mr Trump should be impeached. That would be highly unlikely given Mr Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Mr Musk's SpaceX plays a critical role in the US government's space programme. When Mr Trump posted that he might cancel Mr Musk's contracts, the billionaire responded he would begin decommissioning SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, the only US spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. Later, Mr Musk backed away from that threat.
In a sign of a possible detente, Musk subsequently wrote: 'You're not wrong' in response to billionaire investor Bill Ackman saying Mr Trump and Mr Musk should make peace.
A prolonged feud could make it harder for Republicans to keep control of Congress in next year's midterm elections if Mr Musk withholds financial support or other major Silicon Valley business leaders distance themselves from Trump.
Mr Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending, and on Tuesday he called for 'all politicians who betrayed the American people' to be fired next year.
His involvement with the Trump administration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk's attention was too divided. – Reuters