Elon Musk stated in a social media submit early Wednesday that he regretted a few of his posts and feedback about President Trump final week, which had led the president to disparage the tech billionaire, a feud that performed out in actual time on social media.
Mr. Musk stated on his X platform that a few of his posts about Mr. Trump “went too far.”
Mr. Musk, the world’s richest individual, was as soon as among the many president’s closest advisers, overseeing a serious effort to slash spending and cut back the dimensions of the federal work power. However he and Mr. Trump had a dramatic and public falling out after the Tesla chief government left his position within the administration.
Each males traded barbs on social media, and Mr. Trump said last week that he had no real interest in repairing the connection.
Mr. Musk’s public expression of remorse was one other signal of a possible thaw within the standoff with the president. Even final week, Mr. Musk had agreed with a submit on X suggesting the 2 males have been “stronger collectively.” Mr. Musk has since deleted a few of his most incendiary social media posts. Mr. Trump has additionally toned down some of his public criticisms of Mr. Musk.
The protests in Los Angeles additionally highlighted a key problem the place the 2 males agree: immigration. In latest days, Mr. Musk has used his social media platform to echo Mr. Trump’s rhetoric in regards to the protests and wish for a robust authorities response.
Mr. Musk’s submit on Wednesday underscores the difficult energy dynamics between the 2 males. Mr. Musk, who poured roughly $275 million into Mr. Trump’s re-election marketing campaign, is the most important donor in Republican politics. He additionally has extra followers than anybody else on X, the social media platform he owns.
However Mr. Trump holds huge political energy over Mr. Musk. The billionaire’s corporations, particularly Tesla and SpaceX, have obtained billions of {dollars} in federal contracts in recent times. As the 2 males sparred on-line final week, Mr. Trump threatened to chop them off as a strategy to “lower your expenses” within the federal funds.
Mr. Musk’s corporations have been promised $3 billion in federal contracts from 17 federal companies in 2023 alone. Plenty of federal companies are investigating or suing Musk’s corporations.
Allies of the 2 males have been urging them to reconcile. The spat initially centered on Mr. Musk’s criticism of Mr. Trump’s signature home coverage invoice, which he condemned as a “disgusting abomination” as a result of it’s going to add considerably to the nationwide debt. However the spat devolved rapidly into petty and outlandish assaults.
Mr. Musk, for instance, steered that the Trump administration had not launched its recordsdata on the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein as a result of Mr. Trump was in them. Mr. Trump, at one level, requested why Mr. Musk had not coated up his black eye with make-up throughout an Oval Workplace look final week.
The social media combat got here as Mr. Musk had pledged to step again from politics and his work on the Department of Government Efficiency, a federal authorities cost-cutting venture, to refocus on his corporations, that are dealing with vital moments for his or her futures.
Tesla has seen its sales slump globally as Mr. Musk’s politics have turn into a pressure for the automotive model. In america, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and France, gross sales have fallen whereas different electrical carmakers are gaining floor.
Tesla is dealing with a serious check later this month, when the corporate is anticipated to introduce a brand new autonomous driving taxi fleet in Austin, Texas, referred to as Robotaxi.
Mr. Musk’s area firm, SpaceX, can be dealing with key challenges. The corporate is developing the most important and strongest rocket ever constructed. Check flights up to now have produced blended outcomes.
