Elon Musk has acknowledged he crossed a line in his recent social media posts about former President Donald Trump. In a brief statement shared Tuesday night on X, Musk wrote that he regretted some of the things he posted the previous week about Trump, calling them excessive.
The public rift between Musk and Trump began after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO claimed Trump was mentioned in the sealed Jeffrey Epstein court documents. Musk later added that Trump’s re-election chances depended on his personal support. Both statements were removed shortly after being posted. They were replaced with standard error messages on the platform, and Musk did not offer further clarification on the deletions.
Tensions escalate after deleted posts
The fallout from Musk’s comments was swift. On Thursday, he appeared to support a call for Trump to be impeached and replaced by Vice President JD Vance. That post was also deleted. By Saturday, the only trace of the episode was Musk’s message expressing regret. In response, Trump issued a warning in an NBC News interview. He said Musk would face consequences if he supported Democrats in upcoming elections, though he did not specify what those consequences would be.
Trump stated that he was finished with Musk, claiming he had supported him in the past during his first term. He accused Musk of being disrespectful to the office of the president and confirmed he had no intention of communicating with him further. Trump also said he had previously given Musk breaks that had helped him and suggested the relationship was permanently damaged.
JD Vance offers a calmer perspective
Senator JD Vance addressed the controversy during a podcast interview with comedian Theo Von. He described Musk as emotional and said the billionaire made a mistake in how he responded to Trump. While his comments were more measured, Vance made it clear that he believed Musk’s actions were inappropriate. His response came just days after the now-deleted impeachment post that named him as a replacement.
The remarks highlighted the sudden collapse of a once-promising alliance. Musk and Trump had recently shared public praise. Musk had been appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency under Trump’s direction. That cooperation drew attention from investors closely following Musk’s business ties to the federal government.
Legislation dispute adds fuel to the fire
The dispute intensified after Musk criticized Trump’s proposed legislation, informally known as the “big, beautiful bill.” He argued that the bill excluded key policy goals he supported. Trump’s press secretary responded by framing Musk’s reaction as disappointment over policy decisions. With public disagreements growing and political ties fading, attention is now on how this fallout might impact Musk’s ventures.