A day after an extraordinary war of words broke out between US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, marking a sudden and spectacularly public deterioration of their once-close relationship, it has emerged that two of the most powerful individuals may be open to a cessation of hostlities. Politico reported that White House aides have scheduled a call between the two on Friday and Musk also signalled on X that he may walk back from the brink. The public spat — largely played out on social media — saw threats over government contracts and ended with the world’s richest man suggesting the US president should be impeached. After a brief interview with Trump regarding the Musk fallout on Thursday, Politico reported that the president appeared unfazed by the escalating feud. “Oh, it’s OK,” Trump said when asked about the dispute. “It’s going very well, never done better.” Pointing to his approval ratings, he added: “The numbers are through the roof, the highest polls I’ve ever had — and I have to go.” Musk had bankrolled a large portion of Trump’s presidential campaign and was later appointed one of the president’s most visible advisers, leading a sweeping and controversial initiative to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. The feud erupted publicly on Thursday after Trump criticised Musk in the Oval Office. The two then traded barbs via their platforms: Trump on Truth Social, Musk on X. Musk's reconciliation Signalling a possible detente, Musk replied, “You’re not wrong,” to billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s suggestion that Trump and Musk should “make peace”. I support @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk and they should make peace for the benefit of our great country. We are much stronger together than apart. — Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) June 5, 2025 Trump and Musk are both known for their combative political styles and frequent use of social media to target rivals. Many observers had predicted a clash was inevitable. Earlier in the week, Musk directly challenged Trump’s legislative agenda by attacking his “big, beautiful bill,” calling it a “disgusting abomination” that would exacerbate the federal deficit. This followed his first statement after exiting his government role as head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), where he said that "a bill can be big or it could be beautiful. But I don't know if it could be both". His comments widened the rift within the Republican Party and threatened to derail the bill’s progress in the Senate. As per a report by Reuters, nonpartisan analysts have estimated that Trump’s bill could add between $2.4 trillion and $5 trillion to the national debt, which currently stands at $36.2 trillion. A prolonged feud could weaken Republican control in next year’s midterm elections, especially if Musk withdraws campaign support or his criticism influences voters in Silicon Valley, the report added. “Elon really was a significant portion of the ground game this last cycle,” said a Republican strategist with ties to Musk and the Trump administration, speaking anonymously to Reuters. “If he sits out the midterms, that worries me.” On Tuesday, Musk posted: “In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.” He had already signalled plans to scale back his political donations. Musk’s increasing focus on politics has triggered protests at Tesla facilities and raised concerns among investors that his attention is too divided. The Thursday feud Tensions had been mounting since Musk, who stepped down last week as head of the DOGE, publicly denounced Trump’s sweeping tax-cut and spending bill. While the president initially remained quiet, he broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was “very disappointed” in Musk. “Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said. As Trump spoke, Musk replied on X: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” referring to the nearly $300 million he spent backing Trump and other Republicans in last year’s election. In another post, Musk warned that Trump’s signature import tariffs would push the US into a recession later this year. Trump escalated matters further by writing: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.” Minutes after the closing bell, Musk responded “Yes” to a post on X suggesting that Trump should be impeached—an unlikely scenario given that Republicans control both chambers of Congress. However, as for Elon, shares in Musk’s Tesla closed down over 14 per cent on Thursday, losing about $150 billion in market value in the largest single-day drop in the company’s history. In pre-market European trading on Friday, they pared some of those losses, rising 5 per cent after Politico reported the two men were scheduled to speak. Musk’s business empire includes SpaceX and its satellite subsidiary Starlink, both of which play critical roles in US government operations. He responded to Trump’s threat by saying he would begin decommissioning SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, the only American vehicle capable of transporting astronauts to the International Space Station. However, Musk later backed off the threat.
