- “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”
WASHINGTON: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a former adviser to Donald Trump, said on Wednesday he regretted some of his recent criticisms of the US president following their public spat last week.
“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X.
Musk’s expression of regret came just days after Trump threatened the tech billionaire with “serious consequences” if he tried to punish Republicans who voted for a controversial spending bill.
Their acrimonious split, which has largely taken place on social media in front of a glued-to-the-public eye since Thursday last week, was sparked by Musk’s sharp criticism of Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful” spending bill currently making its way through Congress.
Some lawmakers who opposed the bill called on Musk, one of the Republican Party’s biggest donors in last year’s presidential election, to finance primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the bill.
“He’s going to have to pay very serious fines if he does that,” Trump said Saturday on NBC News, also calling Musk “disrespectful” without specifying what the fines would be.
Trump also said he had “no” desire to reconnect with the South African-born Tesla and SpaceX chief and that he had “no intention of talking to him.”
In his post Wednesday, Musk did not specify which of his criticisms of Trump went “too far.”
The former allies apparently broke ties amicably about two weeks ago, with Trump giving Musk a lavish sendoff as he left his post overseeing spending cuts at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
But their relationship has been strained for days, with Musk calling the spending bill an “abomination” that, if passed by Congress, could determine Trump’s second term in office.
Trump responded to Musk’s comments with a scathing rebuke in the Oval Office, sparking a row that has stunned Washington.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we’ll ever have that again. I was surprised,” Trump told reporters.
Musk, who was Trump’s biggest donor in his 2024 re-election campaign, also raised questions about a Republican victory in the election.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, the Democrats would have controlled the House, and the Republicans would have been 51-49 in the Senate,” he wrote, adding: “How ungrateful.”
Trump later said on his Truth Social platform that cutting billions of dollars in subsidies and contracts for Musk’s companies would be the “easiest way” to save the US government money. US media estimated the value of the contracts at $18 billion.
With the political and economic risks of a breakup real, both countries appeared to have pulled back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters, “I just wish him the best,” and Musk responding to X, “Same here.”
Trump gave an interview to NBC on Saturday after Musk deleted one of the explosive allegations he made during their spat, linking the president to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Musk claimed the Republican president was included in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.
Trump’s name was mentioned in a series of depositions and statements related to Epstein that were released by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been charged with any wrongdoing in the case.
“Time to drop the real big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote on X. “Here’s the real reason they haven’t been made public.”
Musk did not disclose which files he was referring to or provide any evidence to support his claim.
He appeared to have deleted the tweets by Saturday morning.