Donald
Trump says Elon Musk has ‘lost his mind’ and dismisses peace offering
Trump says
he’s ‘not particularly’ interested in reconciling with Musk, who reportedly
wanted to speak to president
Adam Gabbatt
and Dan Milmo
Fri 6 Jun
2025 17.32 BST
Donald Trump
has accused Elon Musk of “losing his mind” as the dramatic breakdown between
America’s most powerful person and the world’s richest person escalated into a
full-blown feud that could have seismic political and economic consequences.
In a series
of phone calls to US media on Friday morning, Trump snapped back at Musk, after
the tech mogul and Republican financier launched an extraordinary social media
attack on the president the day before, which ended with him accusing Trump of
being named in the so-called “Epstein files” – documents related to the
convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The row
between the two men, who were near constant companions during the latter stages
of Trump’s presidential campaign and his first months in the White House,
showed no sign of abating, with Musk’s self-proclaimed status as “first buddy”
rapidly disappearing in the rear-view mirror.
Trump, who
is not known to take criticism well, made his displeasure clear on Friday,
doubling down on his newfound hostility to Musk, who spent nearly $300m to
elect the 78-year-old. In an interview with ABC News, Trump was asked about
reports of a potentially peacemaking phone call scheduled with Musk for later
in the day, to which Trump responded, “You mean the man who has lost his mind?”
and added that he was “not particularly” interested in talking to his former
confidant right now.
The
president also spoke to CNN, saying, “I’m not even thinking about Elon. He’s
got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem,” and told Politico that the
relationship with Musk was “going very well, never done better”.
As well as
giving many people a reason to return to X – the social media site Musk owns
and where he has recently been amplifying rightwing, pro-Trump views – the
bitter fight could heavily affect the political landscape. Musk suggested
starting a new political party, one “that actually represents the 80% in the
middle”, and given his wealth he would be able to pump millions into next
year’s midterm elections, potentially influencing races across the country.
In the space
industry, meanwhile, Nasa has become increasingly reliant on Musk’s SpaceX
company, with the Dragon spacecraft being used to transport the agency’s
astronauts to and from the International Space Station, and Musk pledged to
decommission the Dragon in the wake of the Trump fight. He quickly signalled an
about-face, but it was a reminder of Musk’s influence, which is further
bolstered by the key role the Starlink satellite broadband platform plays in
Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion.
Trump,
meanwhile, threatened to cancel Musk’s US government contracts, and the
president’s ally Steve Bannon suggested that Musk, a South African-born
American citizen, “should be deported from the country immediately”. In a sign
of the immediate impact on Musk, his net worth fell by $33bn on Thursday alone,
while Tesla’s shares initially dropped by about 14.2%, wiping roughly $152bn
off the value of the company.
The rolling
quarrel began after Musk criticized Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” – tax and
spending legislation that experts say would add $2.4tn to the national debt,
strip more than 10 million people of their health insurance and enshrine tax
cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Trump said he was “very disappointed in
Elon” over the criticism, as Musk said Trump’s trade policies would cause a
recession, before the dispute escalated wildly.
Many had
predicted that the relationship between Musk and Trump, two men known for their
large egos and unpredictable behavior, could not last, but the sheer level of
vitriol stunned Americans and would seem to make a reconciliation unlikely.
Musk did at
least appear to proffer an olive branch in a reply to a post from the hedge
fund owner Bill Ackman, who called on Trump and Musk to “make peace for the
benefit of our great country”, but on Friday Susie Wiles, the White House chief
of staff, told NBC News “there are no plans” for a call between the two men.
In the
meantime, it was business as usual for Trump on Friday, the president offering
a series of misleading takes on the US job market, which new figures show
slowed in May. Musk was unusually quiet on social media, as Tesla’s shares
rebounded somewhat from Thursday’s loss, rising by 6%, although at least one
customer seemed keen to divest from the company: the White House said on Friday
that Trump plans to sell his Tesla Model S.
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