“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” the Tesla CEO posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.
What exactly is he walking back?
Perhaps it’s a now-deleted post where Musk claimed that Trump appears in the Epstein files — a serious allegation tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the secrecy surrounding unsealed court documents.
“Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk had written, before taking the post down.
One does wonder how the duo, who were once like the real-life Jai-Veeru (Sholay reference) of the United States, have grown increasingly antagonistic.
The clash started early June when Musk publicly attacked Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” as it made its way through Congress.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk posted, shortly after exiting his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong.”
And then began a series of he-said-she-said posts on the platform before getting ugly.
Trump, in turn, claimed Musk’s opposition came from personal financial interests. “Elon is upset because we took the EV mandate, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles. They’re having a hard time, the electric vehicles, and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy,” Trump said, accusing Musk of being too close to the bill’s drafting — a claim Musk later denied.
Long story short, Musk and Trump’s official association has come to an end.
After the billionaire campaigned for him through and through during the US Presidential elections, after Trump let him run an agency for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations on his terms, after after a red Tesla Model S made its way into the White House fleet — which the President said he might “move it around a little bit” to another location.
Still, Trump appears ready to move on. “We had a great relationship and I wish him well—very well, actually,” he told reporters Monday. Musk’s latest comment on his actions suggests an amicable future for the two.
What remains to be seen is whether these two alpha personalities can truly put the past behind them — or if the bad blood will flare up all over again.
