Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Washington D.C. – Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO whose political provocations have become as familiar as his product launches, publicly dialed back his escalating feud with former President Donald Trump early Wednesday morning. The Tesla and SpaceX founder posted on X, the platform he owns, that he “regret[s] some of [his] posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week,” admitting they “went too far.”
The comment marked a rare concession from Musk, who over the past several weeks had transformed his previously chummy rapport with Trump into a high-profile clash with potential political and financial consequences. Musk’s companies — deeply embedded in the federal contracting ecosystem and reliant on regulatory cooperation — face heightened scrutiny as Trump mounts a return to political power.
The feud reached a fever pitch after Musk, without evidence, suggested on X that the U.S. government was hiding information about Trump’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Though the post was deleted, others critical of the former president remain on the platform, including Musk’s claim that he played a key role in Trump’s 2024 election victory and his characterization of the administration’s spending bill as an “abomination.”
Trump, in turn, offered no olive branch. In a Sunday interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, he flatly rejected any notion of reconciliation with Musk and issued a veiled warning: the Tesla CEO could face “serious consequences” should he throw his support behind Democrats in the coming election cycle.
While Musk’s ventures have long benefited from government contracts and subsidies — from NASA launches to EV tax credits — their future could hinge on his ability to navigate Washington’s shifting political landscape. The former president’s animosity now casts a long shadow over projects like Tesla’s upcoming robotaxi rollout, a linchpin in the company’s strategic vision.
In a separate post Tuesday night, Musk announced that the robotaxi service would “tentatively” debut in Austin, Texas, on June 22. But some analysts fear that federal safety regulators, under pressure from a potentially hostile administration, could slow or complicate the launch.
Tesla shareholders have taken note. After last week’s steep dip triggered by the feud’s eruption, the company’s stock rebounded nearly 2% on Wednesday morning, recovering previous losses. But the broader implications — for Musk’s businesses, for Republican tech alliances, and for the role of private capital in public infrastructure — remain unsettled.
The line between CEO and political actor has rarely felt blurrier.
