President Trump cast doubt on his current rapport with Elon Musk on Thursday, following harsh criticism from the billionaire entrepreneur aimed at the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The president’s remarks suggested that their previously strong bond might now be fractured.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office ahead of a scheduled meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“He hasn’t said bad about me personally, but I’m sure that’ll be next. But I’m very disappointed … I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
Since stepping down last week from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has taken to X in a barrage of posts denouncing the Trump-supported bill. Over several days, he labeled the legislation “disgusting” and implored lawmakers to “kill the bill.”
Musk, who leads both Tesla and SpaceX, took issue with the Republican-backed plan over its projected impact on the national deficit and reportedly fumed over the elimination of electric vehicle tax credits that had been implemented under Biden’s administration.
“He’s not the first. People leave my administration and they love us and then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it and some of them actually become hostile. I don’t know what it is, it’s sort of Trump derangement syndrome, I guess they call it. … The glamor is gone, the whole world is different, and they become hostile,” Trump said of Musk.
“I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill,” the president added. “He never had a problem until right after he left.”
{Matzav.com}