Donald Trump opens up on Elon Musk being ‘strange’ and what went wrong in bromance
President Donald Trump after Elon Musk walked back some posts attacking him revealed why the tech billionaire ‘doesn’t like me so much’ and ‘got a little bit strange’.
Trump referred to Musk as ‘a friend’ and weighed in on their rollercoaster relationship while signing legislation blocking California’s rule aimed at making almost all new vehicles electric within a decade.
Without even being asked, Trump brought up Musk on Thursday afternoon, a day after his former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief wrote he had ‘regret’ over some posts about the president.
Trump noted that on the first day of his second term, he ended the ‘Green New Scam’ and got rid of the electric vehicle mandate at the federal level.
‘We abolished it, which is basically that everybody will be driving an electric car within a very short period of time,’ said Trump, before joking, ‘Now we know why Elon doesn’t like me so much, which he does, actually. He does.’
Trump said he was surprised that the Tesla CEO endorsed him in the 2024 election because he has long opposed policies that benefit electric vehicles.
‘I used to say I was amazed that he’s endorsing me because that can’t be goof for him, I’m abolishing the EV mandate,’ Trump said from the White House.
The president said Musk had a ‘very honest answer’ on the matter.
‘I actually asked him, because it was like really strange that I’m with him, a friend of mine, and he makes electric cars and we’re saying… you’re not going to be forced to make all of those cars,” Trump said.
‘He said, “As long as I’m on the same plane as everybody else, we’re going to do good, we make a better product.” I said, “That’s very cool.”‘
Trump then took at jab at Musk as the two billionaires have yet to reconcile after their massive feud that started last Thursday.
‘After that, he got a little bit strange — I don’t know why — over much smaller things than that,’ Trump said.
He did provide specifics.
Their relationship imploded after Musk’s time as a special government employee ended, and he criticised Trump’s signature domestic policy legislation, the ‘One, Big, Beautiful Bill’.
Musk reportedly called Trump on Monday and two days later wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) platform: ‘I regret some of my posts about the president this week. They went too far.’
While Musk has appeared eager to make amends, Trump has turned his focus to a more obvious political opponent, California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
Newsom and Trump have been clashing over protests against the president’s immigration crackdown in Los Angeles. Since chaos broke out on Friday in LA, demonstrators have hit the streets in at least five major US cities to stand against ICE raids.
Trump’s newly signed legislation also goes against Newsom’s policies in his state.
‘Under the previous administration, the federal government gave left-wing radicals in California dictatorial powers to control the future of the entire car industry all over the country – all over the world,’ said Trump.
Trump called Newsom’s policy to limit gas vehicles ‘ridiculous’ and said ‘Los Angeles would be burning down right now’ if he did not order National Guard troops and Marines there.
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