Inside the end of Trump's explosive feud with Elon Musk as Tesla boss makes olive branch call to president
The settlement of the astonishing feud between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk finally came about after the world's richest man placed a phone call to the world's most powerful.
The former first buddy had been seeking to claw his way back into Trump's good side with a series of surprisingly positive posts about Trump and his agenda.
The president, meanwhile, continued to wish him 'well' – apparently taking notice and lowering the temperature on stunning threats to try to shred the government contracts held by Musk's companies.
Now, it has been revealed that Musk phoned Trump late Monday before he stunningly offered his public admission of regret, the New York Times reported. The moment came after Musk spoke Friday with Vice President JD Vance, whom he has known for years, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to the Times.
'I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,' Musk posted at 3:04 AM Wednesday.
Trump said Saturday that he thought his relationship with Musk was effectively over, and over the weekend he warned of 'serious consequences' if Musk were to start financially supporting Democrats, after waging war on his 'big, beautiful bill' by pointing to estimates it would tack billions onto the national debt.
By Monday afternoon, the day of the call, Trump was taking a softer tone. He told a New York Post podcaster he had 'no hard feelings.'
'I guess I could,' Trump said, asked if he could ever bury the hatchet.
'He went after a bill that's phenomenal, it's the best thing we've ever signed in this country,' Trump said. 'And when he did that I was not a happy camper. So, it's too bad.'
It was only on May 30 when Trump presented Musk with a golden key to the White House, only to have their relationship blow up over a series of escalating attacks and threats.
During a podcast appearance with Theo Von that aired Saturday, Vance hinted a potential truce.
'Elon, he's an incredible entrepreneur,' said Vance. 'And look, man, I'm always going to be loyal to the president, and I hope that eventually Elon kind of comes back into the fold.'
On Wednesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt gave the first public reaction from Trump's side to Musk saying he went 'too far.'
'The president acknowledged the statement that Elon put out this morning, and he is appreciative of it, and we are continuing to focus on the business of the American people,' she said.
She also didn't give any indication of a government-wide review of the multi-billion contracts for work Musk's companies do for the U.S. government.
'No efforts have been made on that front, as far as I'm aware,' Leavitt said.
The rapprochement comes just days after Trump stashed his red Model S Tesla, in a tangible show of where things stood.
Hours after Trump introduced the idea that he may move his new car around 'a little bit,' the pricey vehicle had vanished Tuesday from the prime parking spot it had occupied on White House grounds since he purchased it.
A White House official, pressed for details, refused to provide additional information to DailyMail.com on its whereabouts.
'We're not playing Where's Waldo,' said the official. 'If you don't see, it you don't see it.'
Trump himself was coy when a reporter asked him about the electric vehicle Monday after he spent the preceding days warring with Musk by threatening his government contracts, while Trump ally Steve Bannon brought up Musk's alleged drug use and said he should be deported.
The South-Africa born Musk is CEO of Tesla, and also runs X and SpaceX.
Musk published and deleted a post saying the feds had additional information on Trump in the Jeffrey Epstein files and even suggested the president should be impeached. Trump said Musk would face 'serious consequences' if he backed Democrats, although Musk later appeared to be using his X account to try to claw himself back into Trump's good graces.
Amid the threats and counter-threats, reporters wanted to know if Trump would keep the car and maintain the Starlink internet service installed for the White House by Musk's DOGE aides, despite reported warnings by government security professionals.
President Trump's Tesla, which he had parked at the White House after buying it, has vanished amid his feud with company CEO Elon Musk
The Tesla remains a fixation, and there were media reports Trump was considering selling it amid the astonishing breach with his former first buddy.
'No, I haven't heard that. I mean, I may move the Tesla around a little bit, but I don't think we'll be doing that with Starlink. It's a good service,' Trump responded.
Asked where he might put it, he responded, 'I have a lot of locations. I got so many locations that I don't know what to do with them all,' Trump jokes.
The car, which lists for about $80,000, has Florida tags, giving Trump more street parking options if he moves it back to his official domicile at Mar-a-Lago.
He also could store the car at his nearby golf club just across the Potomac River in Sterling, Virginia.
Trump says he paid for it with a check.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and longtime aide Margo Martin took the car for a spin May 30
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and longtime aide Margo Martin took the car for a spin May 30, shortly before the massive public spat between Trump and Musk erupted at the end of Musk's 130-day stint as a Special Government Employee.
The car's disappearance a tangible demonstration of how Trump's relationship has soured with the world's richest man.
Trump took heat in the press for turning the White House grounds into a virtual Tesla showroom at a time when Tesla's stock price was tanking amid fury over DOGE cuts. He called the cars 'beautiful' and gushed about the look of the Cybertruck.
'As soon as I saw it, I said, 'That is the coolest design,' he said.
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