- Elon Musk, after weeks of publicly criticizing President Donald Trump—including calling for his impeachment and denouncing a key spending bill—has abruptly walked back his attacks, apologizing on X and deleting his most incendiary posts. This rare reversal appears driven by the potential impact on Musk’s business interests and his long-standing, if now strained, relationship with Trump.
Almost as quickly as it began, Elon Musk’s onslaught against President Donald Trump has come to an end.
Over the past few weeks the Tesla CEO has swung from being one of the Oval Office’s staunchest supporters to one of its most vocal critics, not only urging voters to rebel against the Trump team’s key spending bill but also claiming—without evidence—that President Trump’s name is mentioned in the Jeffrey Epstein files.
But in the early hours of this morning the Space X founder walked back some of his comments, posting on X (the social media site he owns formerly known as Twitter): “I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far.”
I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025
For Musk, such a public apology directed at a prominent political figure is almost unheard of. Musk has previously told former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau that it “doesn’t matter what you say” and called for British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to go to jail, saying he was “evil.” He also said the U.K. parliamentary undersecretary for the home office, MP Jess Phillips, should be imprisoned and “thrown out.”
No such apologies were issued to these politicians.
And yet President Trump has extracted a 180-degree turn from the richest man on the planet, likely owing to the previously firm partnership between the duo and—critics might suggest—because of the pain the White House can inflict on Musk’s private interests.
The friendship between Musk and Trump began back on the campaign trail, with the billionaire entrepreneur backing the then Republican nominee to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
Musk also suggested the idea of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which would supposedly axe $2 trillion from federal spending, and was appointed to lead the team when Trump secured the Oval Office.
Things have gone downhill since there, however. Musk began publicly feuding with Peter Navarro, a top Trump advisor, saying he was “truly a moron.”
That was in response to Navarro claiming that the American people know Musk—the richest man on the planet—is not a “car manufacturer” but a “car assembler.” In April Musk then began wielding the “fake news” line against Navarro, saying that his claims about Tesla are “demonstrably false.”
At the time the White House shrugged off the sparring, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying: “Boys will be boys.”
But Musk’s public criticism of the Trump administration didn’t stop there: He also criticized Trump’s tariff plans (supported by Navarro) and reportedly advised the White House against such a strategy.
Speaking with Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini in April, Musk said: “I’m hopeful for example with the tariffs…that at the end of the day…it is agreed that Europe and the U.S. should move, ideally in my view, to a zero tariff situation—effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America.”
Criticism heats up
But it was after Musk officially left Washington, D.C., as a special government employee that things really went south.
Last week Musk labeled Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” an “abomination,” urging voters to protest the budget, adding online: “Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.”
He continued: “[The bill] more than defeats all the cost savings achieved by the @DOGE team at great personal cost and risk.”
The Tesla CEO then claimed Trump could not have won last year’s election without him, as well as asking voters to rebel against the Big, Beautiful Bill.
Musk even went as far as calling for Trump to be impeached, and baited the Oval Office to cancel 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 recently 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.
Some tensions seemed to cool following an interview of Vice President JD Vance, in which he 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.”
Musk reacted to a clip of this interview on X, responding: “cool.”
In a further deescalation yesterday, prior to his apology, Musk also shared positive reaction to the White House’s response to the L.A. protests and deleted his posts about Trump and Epstein.
