Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and Donald Trump’s former advisor, said recently he regretted some of his recent criticisms of the US president, after the pair’s public falling-out last week.
“I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far,” Elon wrote on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025
Elon’s expression of regret came just days after Donald threatened the tech billionaire with “serious consequences” if he sought to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill.
Their blistering break-up – largely carried out on social media before a riveted public since Thursday last week – was ignited by Elon’s harsh criticism of Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful” spending bill, which is currently before Congress.
Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Elon – one of the Republican Party’s biggest financial backers in last year’s presidential election – to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation.
“He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” Donald, who also branded Musk “disrespectful,” told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be.
Donald also said he had “no” desire to repair his relationship with the South African-born Tesla and SpaceX chief, and that he has “no intention of speaking to him.”
In his post on Wednesday, Elon did not specify which of his criticisms of Donald had gone “too far.”
‘Wish him well’
The former allies had seemed to have cut ties amicably about two weeks ago, with Donald giving Elon a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
But their relationship cracked within days as Elon described the spending bill as an “abomination” that, if passed by Congress, could define Donald’s second term in office.
Donald hit back at Elon’s comments in an Oval Office diatribe and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington stunned.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore. I was surprised,” Donald told reporters.
Elon, who was Donald’s biggest donor to his 2024 campaign, also raised the issue of the Republican’s election win.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” he posted, adding: “Such ingratitude.”
Donald later said on his Truth Social platform that cutting billions of dollars in subsidies and contracts to Elon’s companies would be the “easiest way” to save the US government money. US media have put the value of the contracts at $18 billion.
With real political and economic risks to their falling out, both appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Donald telling reporters “I just wish him well,” and Elon responding on X: “Likewise.”
Donald had spoken to NBC on Saturday after Elon deleted one of the explosive allegations he had made during their fallout, linking the president with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Elon had alleged that the Republican president is featured in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges.
Donald was named in a trove of deposition and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,” Elon posted on X. “That is the real reason they have not been made public.”
Elon did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim.
He appeared to have deleted those tweets by Saturday morning.
First published by African Insider
Also see: Elon Musk’s Grok AI malfunctions- can only speak about SA’s ‘white genocide’
