President Donald Trump said on June 6 that he won’t be speaking with Elon Musk “for a while” in the aftermath of the feud between the two billionaires.
When asked if he had a phone conversation with the Tesla CEO, who left the Trump administration last week, Trump said, “No. I won’t be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well.”
The June 5 feud began with Trump reacting to Musk’s opposition to the House GOP bill that would make the 2017 tax cuts permanent and includes provisions related to American energy and securing the border. It would also lift the debt ceiling by $4 trillion and repeal the $7,500 EV tax credit.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” he said in the Oval Office, sitting next to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Musk said that Trump would not have won the presidency and the GOP would not have captured the House had it not been for the entrepreneur’s efforts, worth $300 million. He also said that the GOP would only control the Senate with 51 seats and not 53 had it not been for him.
Trump said Musk “knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here.” Musk denied that and said he was never shown a copy of the bill despite it being publicly available.
The president said that Musk is upset that the EV credit would be repealed in the bill, thereby negatively affecting Tesla. Musk denied this and said he would not mind the mandate being eliminated.
Trump also said Musk was upset at him withdrawing Jared Isaacman’s nomination to lead NASA. Musk supported Isaacman.
The president called for the elimination of government subsidies for Musk’s companies.
Musk also took a personal swipe at Trump by alleging a connection to the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who sex-trafficked women.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that he and Musk can have “policy differences,” though it “shouldn’t be personal.”
Johnson said that Musk should stay in his lane.
“I don’t argue with him about how to build rockets,” he said. “And I wish he wouldn’t argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it.”
During his feud with Trump, Musk went after Johnson and alleged he was not being principled when it comes to fiscal responsibility.
“Where is the Mike Johnson of 2023!?” asked Musk.
“The Mike Johnson of 2023 is the SAME Mike Johnson who has always been a lifelong fiscal hawk—who now serves as Speaker and is implementing a multi-stage plan to get our country back to fiscal responsibility and extraordinary economic growth,” Johnson said.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) dismissed that estimate, saying the CBO had “always” been wrong when it comes to making economic prognostications. The White House also responded to the prediction, stating that the CBO’s estimate needed to be paired with its tariff revenue projection.
