 "There are reports of an emerging truce between the world’s most powerful man and the richest.")
After spending the day trading insults and punching each other down, US President Donald Trump and Tesla boss Elon Musk appeared to tone down their rhetoric and struck a conciliatory tone towards Thursday night (June 6).
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to downplay Musk’s outrage against the so-called big, beautiful bill (BBB), saying the Tesla boss had “a right to speak for his companies”.
“So, the only difference between Friday and today is Elon went back to his companies. And, as a businessman, he has a right to speak for his companies. But as president, President Trump has a responsibility to fight for this country,” Leavitt told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
Politico also reported an emerging truce between the world’s most powerful man and the richest.
Trump reportedly told the outlet everything was “okay” when asked about his feud with Musk. He added, “It’s going very well, never done better.”
Trump heeds advice from White House aides
The outlet reported that Trump toned down his commentary against Musk on his Truth Social platform after heeding advice from his aides.
The aides reportedly urged Trump to focus on the bill instead on the conflict with the X boss.
Musk walks back on threat to decommission the Dragon spacecraft
Musk also appeared to have trudged towards de-escalation.
Responding to an X user who called the “back and forth” between Musk and Trump “a shame”, he wrote, “Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”
In another indication to bury the hatchet with the president, Musk responded to a post by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, calling for them to “make peace”, by writing: “You’re not wrong”.
Musk-Trump feud
Just last week, Musk received a warm farewell from Trump as he stepped down from his role as a special employee for the US government.
However, on Thursday, Musk didn’t pull punches after the president said he was “disappointed” and “surprised” by Musk’s criticism of his tax and spending bill.
He took to X, calling the bill a “big, ugly spending bill,” and started a poll asking if it’s time to create a new political party “that actually represents the 80% in the middle.”
Impact Shorts
View AllHe pinned the poll to the top of his X account. Over 2.1 million people voted, with 81.9 per cent saying “Yes.”
Trump responded by threatening to cancel Musk’s government contracts, claiming Elon Musk “went CRAZY.”
Since then, Musk has said that Trump’s tariffs will cause a recession, and escalated matters with an unverified claim about Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump responded by writing: “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago.”