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PoliticsElon Musk

Trump and Musk might already be making up over Los Angeles protests

Eleanor Pringle
By
Eleanor Pringle
Eleanor Pringle
Senior Reporter, Economics and Markets
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Eleanor Pringle
By
Eleanor Pringle
Eleanor Pringle
Senior Reporter, Economics and Markets
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 10, 2025, 6:10 AM ET
S President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, DC, on May 5, 2025 and Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2025.
President Trump said his relationship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk is effectively over, but Musk is extending an olive brach.ALEX WROBLEWSKI, ALLISON ROBBERT—AFP via Getty Images
  • The feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump appears to be cooling off, with Musk recently expressing support for the White House’s stance on immigration protests in Los Angeles and engaging positively with posts from President Trump and VP JD Vance. Despite a dramatic fallout over federal spending, Musk has since deleted inflammatory posts and responded amicably to conciliatory comments from Trump’s camp, signaling a possible reconciliation.

The so-called “blood feud” between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump may already be simmering down, after the richest man on the planet returned to endorsing the actions of the White House.

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In recent weeks the political partnership that was Musk and Trump broke down in spectacular fashion over the Oval Office’s so-called Big, Beautiful Bill.

Musk felt the package undermined the work he had done with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce spending and the federal deficit, though Trump claimed the SpaceX founder went “crazy” after finding out the bill cut certain electric-vehicle mandates.

But even in the last 24 hours the sharpest rebukes between the pair seem to have been walked back and in some cases even rescinded.

Musk appears to have reconnected with the work of the White House due to the protests currently happening in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Neuralink founder has long pushed for tighter border controls into the U.S., and this was part of the political common ground that led him to support Trump in the 2024 elections.

Musk’s repatriation into team Trump began with the X owner screenshotting a post from the president’s Truth Social platform. In the post, Trump wrote: “Governor Gavin Newscum and ‘Mayor’ Bass should apologize to the people of Los Angeles for the absolutely horrible job that they have done, and this now includes the ongoing L.A. riots. These are not protestors, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists. Remember, NO MASKS!”

The Tesla CEO also reshared a post from Vice President JD Vance, adding it to his timeline with two American flags.

The post from Vance itself contains a further screenshot from Trump’s Truth Social, in which he claims “order will be restored, the illegals will be expelled and Los Angeles will be set free.”

The post from Vance accompanying Trump’s post reads: “This moment calls for decisive leadership. The president will not tolerate rioting and violence.”

And a further indication of the thawing relations between Musk and his former colleagues in Washington, D.C., was his response to a JD Vance interview published at the weekend.

Speaking on podcast This Past Weekend with Theo Von, Vance said: “I don’t want to reveal too many confidences but [Trump] was getting a little frustrated, feeling like some of the criticisms were unfair coming from Elon…the president doesn’t think that he needs to be in a blood feud with Elon Musk, and I actually think if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine.”

Reacting to the clip, Musk wrote: “Cool.”

Perhaps the most notable of Musk’s actions has been to delete the most salacious of his posts on X, which claimed the president’s name is in the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The post—shared with no evidence—was slammed as “BS” by Vance.

Musk vs Trump so far

The spat between Musk and Trump has unfolded a breakneck speed since the man worth $356 billion left Washington, D.C., rescinding his title as a special government employee.

The partnership between the duo hasn’t always been smooth sailing, with Musk making his opinions of some major Trump 2.0 policies clear. He wasn’t a fan of tariffs, for example, and publicly sparred with a top Trump advisor, Peter Navarro, on the issue.

While White House Press Secretary Karoline Levitt laughed off that feud as “boys will be boys,” she did have to respond more forcefully when Musk’s ire was directed at the Oval Office.

The Tesla CEO has claimed Trump could not have won last year’s election without him, as well as asking voters to rebel against the Big, Beautiful Bill, saying it is a “disgusting abomination.”

Musk even went as far as calling for Trump to be impeached, and baited the Oval Office into cancelling government contracts with his private entities.

Trump hasn’t been silent on the matter but has been somewhat more tempered. Although warning that Musk’s federal contracts could be due for a review, the president added he “wasn’t thinking” about the Tesla CEO and hopes he does well with his EV-making company.

“I have no intention of speaking to [Musk],” Trump added in an NBC News interview this weekend.

“I think it’s a very bad thing, because he’s very disrespectful. You could not disrespect the office of the president,” he added.

And even if Vance is hoping Musk will return to the fold, Trump added to NBC that he believes his relationship with the CEO is over.

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About the Author
Eleanor Pringle
By Eleanor PringleSenior Reporter, Economics and Markets
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Eleanor Pringle is an award-winning senior reporter at Fortune covering news, the economy, and personal finance. Eleanor previously worked as a business correspondent and news editor in regional news in the U.K. She completed her journalism training with the Press Association after earning a degree from the University of East Anglia.

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