Days after the very public breakup of President Trump and his former adviser Elon Musk, the latter appears to be doing damage control.
"I regret some of my posts about President [Trump] last week," Musk posted on X, his social media platform, just after 3 a.m. ET on Wednesday. "They went too far."
Trump has been active on social media early Wednesday, but has not responded publicly to Musk's apology.
However, in a previously recorded podcast interview with the New York Post that aired on Wednesday morning, Trump said he had "no hard feelings" towards Musk.
"I don't blame him for anything but I was a little disappointed," Trump said, adding that he had not "thought too much about him in the last little while."
When asked if he could forgive Musk, Trump said "I guess I could," but that "my sole function now is getting this country back to a level higher than it's ever been."
The president told NBC News on Saturday that he has no desire to repair his relationship with Musk, saying he assumed it was over.
"I'm too busy doing other things," Trump said, adding, "I have no intention of speaking to him."
Trump was critical of Musk in that interview, saying the tech billionaire had been "disrespectful to the office of the president."
But Trump also appeared to soften some of his stances. He said he hadn't given any more thought to his earlier threat of canceling Musk's companies' federal contracts or investigating Musk's immigration status, as Trump ally Steve Bannon had publicly suggested.
Meanwhile, Musk quietly deleted some of his more inflammatory tweets from the previous week, including posts endorsing a call for Trump's impeachment, linking Trump to the files of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and saying Trump's tariffs would cause a recession this year.
Trump said on Monday that he had no plans to discontinue Musk's Starlink satellite internet system that was installed at the White House despite security concerns — though may move his Tesla, which he bought in March, off-site. And he told reporters he would not have a problem if Musk called.
"We had a good relationship, and I just wish him well — very well, actually," Trump said. A clip of the exchange was posted to X, where Musk responded with a heart emoji.
The alliance that was
The two had enjoyed a close relationship since 2024, when the tech billionaire poured almost $300 million into backing Trump's reelection campaign.
Musk went on to join the new administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), becoming the public face of its controversial efforts to reshape the federal government even as government lawyers downplayed his role in court filings.
Musk's whirlwind 130 days as a special government employee were marked by legal setbacks, clashes with Cabinet members and scant evidence to support DOGE's claims of significant savings. His own business empire took a financial hit, with Tesla's first-quarter profits plunging 71% compared to the same period in 2024.
Musk announced his departure from the government in late May, citing the end of his "scheduled time" in the position. At a final Oval Office press conference on May 30, Musk stood next to Trump as the president praised him as "one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced."
But things soured quickly in the days that followed, fueled by Musk's public criticisms of the president's sweeping domestic policy bill, known as the "big, beautiful bill." Musk wasted no time railing against what he called the "disgusting abomination," saying it would increase the federal budget deficit and undermine DOGE's cost-cutting efforts.
Trump and Musk's war of words
Social media sniping ensued.
Musk said Trump would have lost the election without his support, while Trump wrote that the "easiest way to save money" in the budget would be to terminate Musk's federal subsidies and contracts, referring to Musk's companies including Tesla and SpaceX.
Then Musk claimed without evidence that Trump's Justice Department has not released the full Jeffrey Epstein files because Trump is in them — an allegation that Trump denied and called "old news" in a Saturday interview with NBC News.
While the White House did not directly comment on those allegations, press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement denouncing the "unfortunate episode from Elon" and accusing him of opposing Trump's bill because "it does not include the policies he wanted." Trump has suggested Musk was disappointed because the bill proposes cutting subsidies for electric vehicles.
In his NBC News interview on Saturday, Trump suggested the feud with Musk had helped unite the Republican Party and made lawmakers see the benefits of his bill. It narrowly passed the House in May and remains under scrutiny in the Senate, where GOP leaders hope to pass it by July 4.
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