President Trump on Friday signaled that he’s done with his relationship-turned-feud with tech billionaire Elon Musk, telling reporters he’s not interested in making up with his former top adviser.
“There are efforts,” Trump said about work to reconcile the duo. “But I’m not really interested in that. I’m really interested in the country solving problems, including war problems in very faraway lands.”
While speaking to reporters on Air Force One on his way to New Jersey, Trump outlined his efforts to bring down prices, which was much of the focus of his social media posts on Friday rather than Musk.
“We have no inflation now … we would have lower interest rates if this guy would lower rates,” he said, taking a jab at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
When asked for his opinion on Musk as of Friday evening, the president said he’s been busy working on international issues and that he hasn’t thought about his former top adviser.
“Honestly, I’ve been so busy working on China, working on Russia, working on Iran… I’m not thinking about Elon Musk,” he said. “I just wish him well.”
The White House was looking to turn the page after the blowup between Trump and Musk the day prior, which grew increasingly dramatic as Musk called for Trump’s impeachment and linked him to the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The White House shut down talk of a potential call for the two men to reconcile, just a week after Musk officially departed from his government role at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In the days since his exit, the tech billionaire ramped up criticisms of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling it a “disgusting abomination” and urging lawmakers to “kill the bill.”
The president on Friday appeared uninterested in continuing the spar that fully deteriorated his relationship with Musk.
He wouldn’t comment on Musk’s alleged drug use, adding that “it sounded very unfair” when The New York Times reported on it last week. And, he said he thought the work of DOGE “helped us a lot” and said the work isn’t finished.
After he had raised the idea of canceling federal contracts and subsidies for Musk’s companies while sparring with him on social media, Trump said he’d be looking at the contracts Musk has with the government.
“We’ll take look at everything,” he said, adding that he will only act if it’s “fair for him and the country.”
“The U.S. can survive without almost anybody…except me,” Trump added when pressed on how the U.S. will fare without the contracts. He added that he hopes Musk “does well with Tesla.”