Tech tycoon Elon Musk stated on Wednesday that he regrets some of the content he posted on social media last week regarding President Donald Trump — previously, he had a fierce public dispute with this former close ally.
"I regret some of the posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week; those comments were a bit excessive," Musk wrote on social media platform X.
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The dispute has dismantled the close collaborative relationship that had previously driven Musk to lead budget cuts in Trump's second administration's Department of Efficiency (DOGE), raising concerns in the market about the prospects of Musk's companies Tesla and SpaceX. Following the outbreak of the conflict, the electric car manufacturer faced its largest impact ever, with its stock price subsequently recovering.
Last week's conflict stemmed from Musk's opposition to the (Big and Beautiful) tax and spending bill supported by Trump. In an interview, Musk stated that the bill "undermines" the work of the Department of Efficiency, and further criticized on social media that the bill would significantly increase the US budget deficit — the Trump administration disputed this claim.
Last weekend, Trump stated that if Musk supports the Democratic candidate challenging the tax and spending bill, he will have to bear the corresponding consequences. At that time, the President said there were no plans to talk to Musk, but on Monday his attitude changed, stating that he wouldn't mind if Musk reached out.
US media: Vance urged Musk to end the dispute with Trump
According to reports, insiders revealed that after Musk's dramatic public break with Trump and his outburst against him, Vice President Vance and the White House Chief of Staff had pushed Musk to repair his relationship with Trump. Vance has been subtly involved in the dispute, supporting Trump but avoiding criticism of Musk, which allowed him to participate in mediation. As Vice President, Vance positions himself as both an "attack dog" and a "problem solver."
Trump: Musk's expression of regret is "very good"
Regarding Elon Musk's recent statements, Trump said: "I think he did very well."
After the storm
The dispute, which erupted simultaneously on Musk's X platform and Trump's Truth Social platform, posed a direct threat to the billionaire's enterprises.
The key point is that the President hinted at potentially terminating government contracts and subsidies granted to Musk's company. Meanwhile, Musk had threatened to stop using SpaceX's "Dragon" spacecraft (which is currently the only tool for transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station), but he quickly retracted that statement.
By the weekend, the storm showed signs of calming down. As of Saturday, Musk seemed to have deleted some social media posts that exacerbated his conflict with the White House leaders, including an update accusing Trump of being listed in the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's "files" — a claim the White House had previously denied.
In addition, a post where Musk replied to a social media user has been deleted; the user called for Trump's impeachment and for Vice President JD Vance to take over, to which Musk had replied, "Agreed."
In response, Trump stated on Monday that he plans to continue retaining Starlink technology at the White House — this is Musk's SpaceX satellite internet service.