President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are at the “only speaking through friends” part of their breakup.
Vice President JD Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles spoke with Musk on the phone last Friday, after which Musk agreed to walk back some of the more explosive claims he made last week, when he and Trump spent the afternoon feuding online.
Sources familiar with the call confirmed to both CNN and The Wall Street Journal that it was intended to de-escalate tensions between the two parties.
On Monday, the tech billionaire dutifully tucked his tail between his legs and published an apology of sorts.
“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week,” Musk wrote on social media. “They went too far.”
That’s a strikingly different tone than the combative one he adopted last week, when, in a series of escalating social media posts, Musk attacked the president’s signature piece of legislation for growing the deficit by $2.4 trillion; called for Trump’s impeachment; mulled over starting his own political party; and said the reason the Jeffrey Epstein files haven’t been released is because Trump is in them.
Epstein, a wealthy financier, died in prison while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges in 2019.
“Mark this post for the future,” Musk said in a follow-up to the Epstein charge. “The truth will come out.”
Musk has since deleted the post.
While the former “first buddies” appear to have patched things up a bit, a full rapprochement likely remains out of the question.
Trump last week pointedly stopped short of saying he’d talk to Musk if he were to call.
“I would imagine he wants to speak to me, I would think so,” he told reporters. “If I were him, I’d want to speak to me.”