Trump says he has no plans to speak to Musk as feud persists

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on June 6 that he has no plans to speak with Mr Elon Musk, signalling that the President and his former ally might not resolve their feud over a sweeping tax-cut Bill any time soon.

Addressing reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump said he was not “thinking about” the Tesla chief executive officer.

“I hope he does well with Tesla,” he said.

However, Mr Trump said a review of Mr Musk’s extensive contracts with the federal government was in order. “We will take a look at everything,” he said. “It is a lot of money.”

Mr Trump may get rid of the red Tesla Model S that he bought in March after showcasing Mr Musk’s electric cars on the White House lawn, a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Earlier on June 6, Mr Trump said that Mr Musk had “lost his mind”, but insisted he wanted to move on from the fiery split with the billionaire.

“You mean the man who has lost his mind?” Mr Trump said in a call with ABC when asked about Mr Musk, adding that he was “not particularly” interested in talking to the tycoon.

Mr Trump later told Fox News that Mr Musk had “lost it”, while CNN quoted him as saying: “I am not even thinking about Elon... The poor guy has got a problem.”

Mr Musk, for his part, did not directly address Mr Trump but kept up his criticism of the massive Republican tax and spending Bill that contains much of Mr Trump’s domestic agenda.

On his social media platform X, Mr Musk amplified remarks made by others that Mr Trump’s “big beautiful Bill” would hurt Republicans politically and add to the nation’s US$36.2 trillion (S$46.6 trillion) debt. He replied “exactly” to a post by another X user that said Mr Musk had criticised Congress and Mr Trump had responded by criticising Mr Musk personally.

Mr Musk also declared it was time for a new political party in the United States “to represent the 80 per cent in the middle!”

People who have spoken to Mr Musk said his anger has begun to recede, and they think he will want to repair his relationship with Mr Trump, according to one person who has spoken to Mr Musk’s entourage.

The White House statements came one day after the two men battled openly in an extraordinary display of hostilities that marked a stark end to a close alliance.

Tesla stock rose on June 6, clawing back some losses from the June 5 session, when it dropped 14 per cent and lost US$150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the company’s history.

Mr Musk’s high-profile allies have largely stayed silent during the feud. But one, investor James Fishback, called on Mr Musk to apologise. “President Trump has shown grace and patience at a time when Elon’s behaviour is disappointing and frankly downright disturbing,” Mr Fishback said in a statement.

Mr Musk, the world’s richest man, bankrolled a large part of Mr Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Mr Trump named Mr Musk to head a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending.

Mr Trump feted Mr Musk at the White House a week ago as he wrapped up his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Mr Musk cut only about half of 1 per cent of total spending, far short of his brash plans to axe US$2 trillion from the federal budget.

Since then, Mr Musk has denounced Mr Trump’s tax-cut and spending Bill as a “disgusting abomination”. His opposition is complicating efforts to pass the Bill in Congress where Republicans hold a slim majority.

Mr Trump’s Bill narrowly passed the House of Representatives in May and is now before the Senate, where Republicans say they will make further changes. Nonpartisan analysts say the measure would add US$2.4 trillion in debt over 10 years.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has been texting with Mr Musk and hopes the dispute is resolved quickly.

“I don’t argue with him about how to build rockets and I wish he wouldn’t argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it,” Mr Johnson said on CNBC.

‘Very disappointed’

Mr Trump had initially stayed quiet while Mr Musk campaigned to torpedo the Bill, but broke his silence on June 5, telling reporters he was “very disappointed” in Mr Musk.

Mr Musk, who spent nearly US$300 million in the 2024 elections, said Mr Trump would have lost without his support and suggested he should be impeached.

Mr Trump suggested he would terminate government contracts with Mr Musk’s businesses, which include rocket company SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink.

The billionaire then threatened to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, the only US spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. Mr Musk later backed off that threat.

Mr Musk had been angered when Mr Trump over the weekend revoked his nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman to head the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). Two sources with direct knowledge of the dispute said White House personnel director Sergio Gor had helped turn Mr Trump against Mr Isaacman by highlighting his past donations to Democrats.

Mr Musk and Mr Gor had been at odds since the billionaire criticised Mr Gor’s pace of hiring at a March Cabinet meeting, the two sources said.

A White House spokesperson, Mr Steven Cheung, praised Mr Gor’s efforts to staff the administration but did not address his relationship with Mr Musk.

A prolonged feud could make it harder for Republicans to keep control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections if Mr Musk withholds financial support or other major Silicon Valley business leaders distance themselves from Mr Trump.

Mr Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending, and on June 3 called for “all politicians who betrayed the American people” to be fired in 2026.

His involvement with the Trump administration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Mr Musk’s attention was too divided. REUTERS