Only a week earlier, Trump had publicly praised Musk's service as head of DOGE.
- Elon Musk expressed regret over recent social media posts about Donald Trump.
- Musk criticised a proposed spending bill central to Trump's domestic agenda, calling it an "abomination."
- Trump warned Musk of "serious consequences" for funding primary challengers against Republican lawmakers.
Days after their massive fallout, billionaire Elon Musk has said he regrets some of the social media posts he made on US President Donald Trump.
"I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far," he wrote.
The clash was sparked by Musk's denunciation of the Trump administration's proposed spending bill, a law seen as central to Trump's domestic agenda during his second term. Musk labelled the bill a "disgusting abomination" and urged political retribution against Republican lawmakers who backed it.
That call did not go unnoticed in the White House.
Speaking to NBC News on Saturday, Trump warned Musk of "very serious consequences" should the billionaire follow through on funding primary challengers against sitting Republican lawmakers.
"He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," Trump said, while declining to specify what those consequences might entail. He also made clear that reconciliation was not on the table. "I have no intention of speaking to him," Trump said.
Only a week earlier, Trump had publicly praised Musk's service as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory body aimed at streamlining federal expenditures. Musk stepped down from the role, citing disagreements over the direction of government spending.
Within days of stepping down, Musk began openly criticising the US President's flagship legislation. His posts triggered immediate pushback, culminating in Trump accusing Musk of ingratitude and threatening to review federal contracts awarded to Musk's companies.
Musk's Epstein Bombshell, and Walk Back
The tensions reached their peak when Musk published a series of incendiary posts linking Trump to the former financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
"Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files," Musk wrote, referring to unreleased government documents related to Epstein's network of associates. He claimed that these documents were being deliberately suppressed, suggesting that they might contain damaging information about the president.
Musk offered no evidence to support his claim, nor did he specify which files he was referring to. In a follow-up post, he urged users to "mark this post for the future," adding, "The truth will come out."
By Saturday morning, both posts had been deleted without explanation.
Trump, speaking to NBC, dismissed the allegations as "old news." "Even Epstein's lawyer said I had nothing to do with it," he said.
While Trump has acknowledged knowing Epstein socially, he has denied ever visiting Epstein's private island or engaging in any illegal activity. Publicly released documents do not accuse the president of wrongdoing.
