The White House squashed speculation that Donald Trump and Elon Musk would patch up their stunning public feud, saying the US president had no plans to call his billionaire former aide Friday.
Trump lobbed fresh insults at the South African-born Musk a day after the fiery implosion of their unlikely political marriage, saying the tech tycoon had “lost his mind.”
In a telling symbol of how their relationship had deteriorated, the president was even considering selling or giving away a Tesla he had bought to show support for Musk amid protests against the company.
The row exploded on Thursday when Trump said he was “very disappointed” by Musk and threatened to end his government contracts, after his ex-aide criticized the president’s flagship budget bill as an “abomination.”
Reports had emerged that Musk and Trump would speak by phone on Friday in a bid to patch up the damaging public row, but the White House scotched such speculation.
“The president does not intend to speak to Musk today,” a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity when asked if the feuding pair planned to speak.
Trump told broadcaster ABC in a phone call earlier Friday that he was “not particularly interested” in talking to Musk.
“You mean the man who has lost his mind?” ABC quoted Trump as saying.
Trump, who once called Musk a “genius”, branded him “crazy” on social media on Thursday.
Fallout
The row could have major political and economic fallout, as shares in Musk’s Tesla car company seesaw and the SpaceX boss vowed that he would end a critical US spaceship program.
The White House called a special meeting on Thursday to discuss how to handle the crisis with Musk, a government source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Trump meanwhile may ditch the red Tesla that he bought from Musk’s firm at the height of their relationship. The electric vehicle was still parked on the White House grounds on Friday.
“He’s thinking about it, yes,” the senior White House official told AFP when asked if Trump would sell or give away the Tesla.
Trump and Musk had posed inside the car at a bizarre event in March, when the US president turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom after protests against Musk’s government role tanked the firm shares.
Speculation had long swirled that a relationship between two big egos like the president and the tycoon could not last long — but the speed of the meltdown took Washington by surprise.
Trump said in a televised Oval Office diatribe on Thursday that he was “very disappointed” after his former top donor criticized his “big, beautiful” spending bill before Congress.
The pair then hurled insults at each other on social media — with Musk even posting, without proof, that Trump was referenced in government documents on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
AFP
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