Trump-Musk Feud Showing Signs of Cooling Down

Some signs of a détente between President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk began to emerge after their bitter clash erupted on social media Thursday, with White House aides scheduling a call between the two men in an effort to broker peace between them, according to a report.

Trump, in an interview with Politico on Thursday, commented that "it's OK" when asked about the war of words that flared between the two of them, initially over Musk's refusal to back Trump's "one big beautiful bill" plan for the nation's budget.

"It’s going very well, never done better," Trump added, before moving on to tout his favorability ratings as having numbers that are "through the roof, the highest polls I've ever had."

Musk, the world's richest man with ownership in key companies including Tesla, SpaceX, and the social media company X, also appeared agreeable Thursday night to ease the tension, after hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted, "I support @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk and they should make peace for the benefit of our great country."

"You’re not wrong," Musk replied.

But the billionaire, who until last week was leading Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, has been escalating his arguments against the president's bill, which is now before the Senate, calling it an "abomination" because of projections that it will add $2.4 trillion to the national deficit.

Musk's posts, becoming more heated as the day went on Thursday, included accusations concerning Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy businessman who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while he was awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Politico, quoting a source close to the White House, reported that Trump tempered some of his retorts on Truth Social at the urging of his White House aides, who encouraged him to focus on getting his bill passed.

Still, Trump threatened to cancel billions of dollars of government contracts with Musk's companies, with Musk retorting that he'd decommission the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, used by NASA to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.

But after an X user suggested the two men "take a step back for a few days," Musk responded: "Good advice. Okay, we won't decommission Dragon," reported Axios.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview Thursday night that Trump and the administration are focused "on passing the one big beautiful bill."

She also told Fox News that last Friday, Trump had "graciously hosted" Musk in the Oval Office and that Musk had "thanked the president for his incredible leadership to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in our government, which this one big, beautiful bill does."

Leavitt also said in a statement to CNN Thursday night that Musk's attacks were an "unfortunate episode" caused because the bill "does not include the policies he wanted."

"This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted. The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again," Leavitt said.

The war of words, meanwhile, cost Tesla billions in market value, but Reuters reported Friday that the company's numbers appeared to be responding to reports that the feud appears to be cooling.

Shares rose by 5% in premarket trading after Musk agreed with Ackman in calls for a cease in his arguments with Trump, the news service reported.

But on Thursday, the arguments between the two powerful men resulted in Tesla's market value dropping by more than $150 billion, its biggest drop in one session.

According to data from Ortex, short-sellers gained nearly $4 billion from the drop.

"It might be a bit too hopeful to think their relationship will ever go back to what it once was, but if cooler heads prevail and the tension eases, that would definitely be a big improvement for Tesla," shareholder Matthew Britzman, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented.