Trump seeks to move on from nasty Musk feud

The White House was looking to turn the page Friday on the blowup between President Trump and Elon Musk, shutting down talk of a potential call for the two men to reconcile and instead putting the focus on Trump’s agenda.

Officials close to the White House did not rule out the possibility of the two men patching things up at some point, but Trump and his aides signaled Friday that they were hoping to move past the drama of the tech mogul calling for his former ally’s impeachment and linking him to the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Trump himself signaled a desire to seemingly be done with the story after a wild day of insults.

“No. I won't be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well,” Trump told CNN in an interview.

White House officials said they felt Trump had taken the “high road” Thursday and Friday in how he was handling the situation. They viewed Trump as having given Musk a warm send off from his role as a special government employee, only for Musk to escalate the situation with mounting attacks on the “big, beautiful bill” that contains many of the president’s priorities.

Those same officials argued it was Musk who got intensely personal with claims that he was the reason Trump won the 2024 election and allegations that Trump is named in documents connected to a federal investigation into disgraced financier Epstein.

When asked about the personal attacks Musk launched at him, Trump told the New York Post on Friday morning, “Nothing catches me by surprise. Nothing.” 

The president on Thursday raised the idea of canceling federal contracts and subsidies for Musk’s companies and said the Tesla CEO had gone “crazy.” But by Friday morning, the president’s social media posts were focused elsewhere, mostly on touting his efforts to bring down prices and shutter the southern border.

“The president’s focus and the focus of the entire White House remains on passing the one big, beautiful bill,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday night on “Hannnity.”

She added that Musk “has a right to speak for his companies” after Trump said Thursday Musk “just went crazy” because a key provision in the House-passed megabill takes away the tax credit for electric vehicles that benefited Tesla.

A senior administration official did say that Trump was considering selling the red Tesla he purchased in March in a show of support for Musk. The vehicle was still parked on the White House complex as of Friday morning.

Musk officially departed his government role last week and received a warm send-off in the Oval Office, where he vowed to remain a friend and adviser to Trump.

But the Tesla CEO has spent the days since leaving the government ramping up criticisms of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling it a “disgusting abomination” and urging lawmakers to “kill the bill.”

On Thursday, the bromance that had swept Washington fully deteriorated. Trump said he was “very disappointed” in Musk and suggested his criticisms stemmed from his business interests. Musk shot back on social media with personal attacks, leading Trump to float canceling government contracts with Musk’s businesses.

Despite the war of words that took place Thursday, some Trump allies suggested a detente or some kind of reunion was not out of the cards.

“Look, I hope they reconcile,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Friday. “I believe in redemption. That's part of my worldview, and I think it's good for the party and the country if all that's worked out.”

He said he was in the Oval Office with Trump on Thursday afternoon amid the sparring on social media and described Trump as “disappointed.”

Charlie Kirk, who has worked with both Musk and Trump, called the breakup between the two men “hard to watch.”

“I actually think they’re going to reconcile at some point, though. Because deep down, I would like to believe they both want the same thing,” Kirk said on “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News.

“President Donald Trump built this movement over 10 years. His supporters are not going anywhere,” Kirk added. “I hope Elon and Trump reconcile. It would be good for the country.”

Other Trump allies don’t appear as eager for the two men to reconcile, though they also didn’t pour gasoline on the fire.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters early Friday he is “not glad or whatever” about Musk’s falling out from the White House, considering their disagreements over trade policy.

Laura Loomer, a far-right activist, defended Trump against Musk’s claims about the Epstein files and him backing a call for the president to be impeached.

“The President of the United States is not a pedophile. Nor should President Trump be impeached. Donald Trump is the best President of my lifetime and his perseverance and fighting spirit is the reason why he won the election. The American people stand with President Trump,” she said Friday morning on social platform X.

The Trump ally who was being the most aggressive against Musk on Friday was the tech mogul’s longtime antagonist, the MAGA insider and former White House adviser Steve Bannon.

He called on Trump to investigate Musk’s immigration status and deport him.

“They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,” Bannon told The New York Times on Thursday.

Musk responded to Bannon on X with a series of insults.