President DonaldTrump said on Friday that he has no plans to speak withElon Musk, signaling the president and his former ally might not resolvetheir feudover a sweeping tax-cut bill any time soon.
Addressing reporters aboard Air Force One,Trumpsaid he wasn’t “thinking about” the Tesla CEO.
“I hope he does well with Tesla,”Trumpsaid.
However,Trumpsaid a review ofMusk’sextensivecontractswith the federalgovernmentwas in order. “We’lltakelookat everything,” the president said. “It’s a lot of money.”
Trumpmay get rid of the red Tesla Model S that he bought in Marchafter showcasing Musk’s electric cars on the White House lawn, aWhite House officialsaid,speaking on condition of anonymity.
Musk, for his part, did not directly addressTrumpbut kept up his criticism of the massive Republican tax and spending bill that contains much ofTrump’s domestic agenda.
On his social-media platform X, Musk amplified remarks made by others thatTrump’s “big beautiful bill” would hurt Republicans politically and add to the nation’s $36.2 trillion debt. He replied “exactly” to a post by another X user that said Musk had criticized Congress andTrumphad responded by criticizing Musk personally.
Musk also declared it was time for a new political party in the United States “to represent the 80% in the middle!”
People who have spoken to Musk said his anger has begun to recede and they think he will want to repair his relationship withTrump, according to one person who has spoken toMusk’sentourage.
The White House statements came one day after the two men battled openly in an extraordinarydisplay of hostilitiesthat marked a stark end to aclose alliance.
Tesla stock rose on Friday, clawing back some losses fromThursday’s session,when it dropped 14% and lost $150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the company’s history.
Musk’shigh-profile allies have largely stayed silent during the feud. But one, investor James Fishback, called on Musk to apologize.
“PresidentTrumphas shown grace and patience at a time when Elon’s behavior is disappointing and frankly downright disturbing,” Fishback said in a statement.
Musk, the world’s richest man, bankrolled a large part ofTrump’s 2024 presidential campaign.Trumpnamed Musk to head a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending.
Trumpfeted Musk at the White House a week ago as he wrapped up his role as head of the Department ofGovernmentEfficiency. Musk cut only abouthalf of 1%of total spending, far short of his brash plans to axe $2 trillion from the federal budget.
Since then, Musk has denouncedTrump’stax-cut and spending billas a “disgusting abomination.” His opposition is complicating efforts to pass the bill in Congress where Republicans hold a slim majority.
Trump’s bill narrowly passed the House of Representatives last month and is now before the Senate, where Republicans say they will make further changes.Nonpartisan analystssay the measure would add $2.4 trillion in debt over 10 years.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has been texting with 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,” Johnson said on CNBC.
‘Very disappointed”
Trumphad initially stayed quiet while Musk campaigned to torpedo the bill, but broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was “very disappointed” in Musk.
Musk, who spent nearly $300 million in last year’s elections, saidTrumpwould have lost without his support and suggested he should be impeached.
Trumpsuggested he would terminategovernmentcontractswithMusk’s businesses, which include rocket company SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink.
The billionaire then threatened to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, the only U.S. spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. Musk later backed off that threat.
Musk had been angered whenTrumpover the weekendrevoked his nominationof Musk ally Jared Isaacman to head the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Two sources with direct knowledge of the dispute said White House personnel director Sergio Gor had helped turnTrumpagainst Isaacmanby highlighting his past donations to Democrats.
Musk and Gor had been at odds since the billionaire criticized Gor’s pace of hiring at a March cabinet meeting, the two sources said.
A White House spokesperson, Steven Cheung, praised Gor’s efforts to staff the administration but did not address his relationship with Musk.
A prolonged feud could make it harder for Republicans to keep control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections if Musk withholds financial support or other major Silicon Valley business leaders distance themselves fromTrump.
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 theTrumpadministration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted thatMusk’sattention was too divided.
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