Elon Musk has expressed regret over a series of inflammatory posts targeting Donald Trump, in what appears to be an attempt to dial back a dramatic public feud that threatened to harm his business interests.
Musk, who was previously the largest donor to Trump’s presidential campaign, turned on the president last week with a series of posts on X — the social media platform he owns — calling for Trump’s impeachment and mocking his alleged ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On Tuesday, Musk appeared to take a step back, posting: “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”
The apparent attempt at reconciliation, however limited, was welcomed by markets. Tesla shares rose 2.6 percent in pre-market trading.
The feud marks a remarkable breakdown in a relationship that once seemed close. During the campaign, the two had portrayed themselves as ideological allies. Musk briefly served in Trump’s administration as head of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency”, a programme aimed at slashing federal spending, colloquially nicknamed “Doge” after the internet meme. Legal experts have since raised questions about the legitimacy of the cost-cutting drive.
Relations soured after Musk criticised Trump’s flagship economic policy, the so-called “big beautiful bill”, which Musk claimed would add $2.4 trillion to federal borrowing and called a “disgusting abomination”.
Trump responded by accusing Musk of having “gone crazy”. But he also issued veiled threats against Musk’s companies, highlighting the potential fallout of the rift.
Writing on his own platform, Truth Social, Trump said: “I took away his EV mandate that forced everyone to buy electric cars that nobody else wanted.” Analysts have pointed to Musk’s perceived alignment with Trump as a reason for waning Tesla sales in Europe and other markets.
At the same time, Musk’s closeness to the White House had been credited with boosting Tesla’s market value, particularly amid speculation that a Trump administration would back the company’s autonomous driving technology.
Musk’s retreat comes just a day before Tesla is due to launch its highly anticipated “robotaxi” service in Austin, Texas — seen by many investors as critical to the company’s future, given its ageing lineup of electric vehicles.
Trump also threatened SpaceX, another of Musk’s ventures, saying: “The easiest way to save money in our budget — billions and billions of dollars — is to terminate Elon’s governmental subsidies and contracts.”
While such a move is considered unlikely, given SpaceX’s dominance in strategic satellite launches, Musk responded by threatening to withdraw the Dragon spacecraft — currently NASA’s key vehicle for ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station — before quietly abandoning the idea.