Musk Backtracks: Billionaire Yields to Pressure from US President

In the wake of a week-long, high-profile feud, it seems Elon Musk and Donald Trump are attempting to move past their very public spat. While apologies have been issued, the chasm created by this clash of titans may take more than just a simple “I’m sorry” to fully mend.

Despite Musk’s public contrition and Trump’s acceptance of the apology, restoring their previously close relationship might require the world’s richest man to leverage his considerable “checkbook diplomacy.” After all, it was Musk who initiated the verbal conflict, escalating to some incendiary remarks. The billionaire seemed to fully enjoy the mudslinging but quickly went into apologetic mode; perhaps he understood the consequences of a full-blown war with a former US President.

Love and Loathing: A Tale as Old as Time

Like many close relationships, the dynamic between these two men mirrored romantic relationships. They once openly celebrated their camaraderie, broadcasting their “bromance” to the world. But, when tensions flared, suspicion and accusations of past wrongdoings took center stage, escalating into a very public battle. With their emotions running hot (perhaps fueled by external factors), the conflict became even more volatile, with the exchange of harsh words.

Only after the dust settles does regret creep in. Regret for the harsh words, the reckless behavior, and the realization of the potential repercussions. Yet, even for the most powerful among us, ego and pride can be formidable foes. Those who present an image of strength and dominance are often the most vulnerable beneath the surface. It is almost a reflex to project an image of what one lacks.

Thus, even when remorseful, the powerful often proceed with caution, engaging in discreet reconnaissance, seeking intermediaries to mediate, allowing days to pass before issuing a formal apology. But the unrestrained conflict has already created a visible rift, and true reconciliation becomes much more complicated.

Over the course of a solid week following the eruption of anger directed at former US President Donald Trump, global business titan Elon Musk delivered a masterclass in this very process. From initial outrage and unbridled insults to a more composed retraction, followed by cautious probing, then a public display of allegiance—finally culminating in a contrite apology. His remorse was palpable.

Just one week earlier, the world was captivated, glued to their social media feeds, witnessing a truly unprecedented spectacle. This was in part due to the sheer stature of the individuals involved, the wealthiest and the most influential figures in the world. It was amplified by their mastery of the digital arena, as each commanded a significant presence and was, by their own admission, prone to engaging in online sparring.

Adding to the drama was their previously warm relationship. Before Trump’s presidency, Musk was a frequent presence at Mar-a-Lago, even sharing holidays with the Trump family. Trump, in turn, would often bring Musk along for interviews and allowed him unprecedented access, including allowing Musk to bring his child into the White House.

This special relationship was in part a product of Musk’s significant financial investment. Last year, he made headlines by openly wading into politics, contributing over $200 million in political donations. He used his influence and social media power to back Trump’s campaign. This led to an increase of intimacy between the two men.

As with any deep-seated relationship, someone often invests more emotionally. Musk clearly took on that role. He publicly professed his “straight man love” for Trump. Considering Musk’s own marital history, many observers believed his feelings toward Trump exceeded those towards partners. His affection for the former president was clear in his eagerness to show off intimate moments, such as his time sleeping in the White House and eating an entire container of caramel ice cream.

Yet, in less than three months, this “straight man love” devolved into a public spectacle. They traded barbs across the global stage, engaging in a fiery war of words and potentially damaging accusations. The fervor they displayed in the past was now replaced with an equal intensity of hostility, with accusations thrown at a personal level.

Fueled by Fury, and No Holds Barred

What exactly did a furious Elon Musk accuse Donald Trump of? He accused Trump of publicly lying and denying the existence of the “Big Beautiful Bill”; of being ungrateful, and of not being able to win the election without his financial backing. He then dug up and criticized the former president’s past commitments.

Musk appeared to be in a rage and seemed to say anything he felt. He hinted at forming a new political party, and even lent his support to the impeachment of Trump, backing Vice President Mike Pence as an alternative. Pence’s own rise to power was partly facilitated by the backing of Peter Thiel and Musk. Musk’s statement was met with awkwardness, and it took Pence a while to pledge his enduring support for President Trump.

Even more shocking was that Musk accused Trump of being hesitant to release documents related to the case involving Jeffrey Epstein, the infamous predator. Musk did not have solid evidence to support his claims. Despite this, the spreading of these allegations online could not be ignored. The online rumor mill forced Trump officials to bring up the lawyer who defended Epstein, in an effort to prove that there was no relation between Trump and Epstein’s crimes.

Looking back, Musk’s accusations often focused on sensitive subjects like child abuse. When a British diver criticized Musk’s rescue attempts to save children from a flooded cave, Musk responded by calling the diver a pedophile, which resulted in a lawsuit. Maybe due to cost, the California court ordered Musk to issue an apology and rejected any punitive damages.

Later, when Musk mocked Reid Hoffman and Bill Gates, he insinuated they were involved in Epstein’s sex abuse case. However, he lacked evidence and resorted to subtle allegations of their involvement at Epstein’s private island. Regardless, Epstein died mysteriously in prison and no related case was ever released.

Musk’s anger seemed to stem from his frustration with Trump and the Republican party’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Proposed tax cuts and increased government spending would have increased the already astronomical national debt, perhaps putting the country at risk of default. It’s estimated that if passed as it was, the bill would add an additional $3.8 trillion of debt over ten years and increase federal debt to roughly $40 trillion.

Musk had previously proclaimed a plan to cut $2 trillion in government spending by any means necessary, including mass layoffs, dismantling departments, and halting foreign aid and research funding. All of which led to major public outrage and a backlash to Tesla. Market research firms projected a decline of 8% to 11% in Tesla’s US deliveries in the first quarter.

However, from the perspective of the Republicans and Trump, Musk was acting with his own best interest at heart, since the “Big Beautiful Bill” would remove the incentives for electric vehicles and alternative energy, and Tesla would be the main loser. Trump directly hit back at Musk saying that his anger was due to the cutting of EV policies.

Damage Control: Musk’s Swift Reversal

While the world watched with fascination, Tesla shareholders felt the sting. Each of Musk’s negative posts about Trump hit Tesla’s stock hard. The day of the verbal feud, Tesla’s stock dipped 17%, wiping out $250 billion in market capitalization, setting a record low.

If Trump made Musk his enemy, what could happen to Musk’s business? Musk’s companies have been awarded over $16 billion in federal contracts. If Trump really withdrew these contracts, it could have done major damage to SpaceX’s financial possibilities and valuation. Although Musk’s personal fortune is about $400 billion, it largely depends on the stock valuation of Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI.

Moreover, Trump could impose heavy regulatory pressure. Before Trump’s time as president, at least 11 federal regulatory agencies investigated or sued Musk’s companies. Without Trump’s support, these agencies would have pursued those investigations. Furthermore, regulatory policies could have been tightened such as the use of autonomous vehicles. “Tesla and its stockholders are understanding the government’s strong control in this sector”, stated Ark Invest CEO, Cathie Wood.

The infighting also gave other entrepreneurs an opportunity. Last week, Bill Gates visited the White House. Gates has repeatedly clashed with Musk. Also, according to the Washington Post, NASA and the Pentagon urged competitors of SpaceX to speed up production of alternative rocket systems ever since Musk threatened to retire the use of the Dragon spaceship for space missions. Boeing and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin might well have benefited from this.

Those against Musk saw the public confrontation as a chance to laugh at him. Following Musk’s tweet, the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs was quoted as saying, “Big man, you see, politics is even more difficult than you thought.” Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stated with delight, “This is a fight between two people.”

Musk was quick to realize the foolishness of the situation and was quick to climb down. Immediately after the argument, he retweeted the message of an obscure blogger with just 160 followers and announced that he would continue the use of the Dragon spaceship. Moreover, he retweeted the words of billionaire and hedge fund manager, Bill Ackman, and agreed that Republicans should come to a peaceful agreement and defend the interests of America.

Public Pledge, Hoping for Forgiveness

Last Saturday morning, Musk started to delete his most unreserved social media posts, including those that accused Trump of being linked with Epstein, as well as the suggestion to have Trump impeached and replaced by Pence. But when words are spoken, they cannot be erased.

Trump did not offer an olive branch. The former president publicly stated that Musk was no longer sane, that he did not want to speak to Musk, and that relations were over. He also warned Musk that if he sided with the Democrats to stop the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill” this could lead to dire consequences.

It should be noted that Trump declined to deny or clarify if Musk used drugs when asked, and instead said that he did not know. Prominent media outlets have lately publicized Musk’s issues with taking drugs and substance abuse, more serious than what Musk had previously described as taking ketamine on a doctor’s advice.

The extreme rage and erratic behavior that Musk showed the previous Thursday raised concerns as to his capability to think rationally. Under normal circumstances, a business leader would not lash out in anger against the US president because that would have a truly negative impact on his business. The special political and business relation that he achieved by donating more than $200 million to Trump was perhaps at risk of being obliterated by Musk’s harsh statements.

Over the next two days, a temporary truce seemed to be established between Trump and Musk, and no further attacks were publicly launched on social media. Perhaps due to warnings issued by Trump, or perhaps the input of mutual acquaintances, Musk did not continue his condemnation of Trump and Republicans over the “Big Beautiful Bill”.

Some mutual friends were very active in order to mediate this disagreement. Vice President Pence communicated separately with both Musk and Trump. Thanks to Pence’s efforts, Musk made a phone call to Trump the following Monday and was given the opportunity to speak and apologize. Pence said that Trump accepted Musk’s apology and did not want to argue.

Trump quickly moved on to deal with the Los Angeles riots, as he mobilized military forces to calm violent confrontations that took place due to the immigration officials arresting illegal immigrants. Deporting illegal immigrants had been the ex-president’s main argument and now he had a chance to showcase his power and impose restrictions on the Democratic party.

Musk’s recent X posts have focused mostly on condemning riots in Los Angeles, which aligned with Trump and Republicans’ points of view. Trump’s administration has also recognized this display of support. Musk formally apologized as a sign of remorse for expressing himself in an extreme way last Thursday.

Although Trump had initially said his relation with Musk was no more, he now offered Musk a gesture of reconciliation after Musk’s phone call and apology. When asked if he was ready to repair the relationship and forgive Musk, Trump replied, “I guess so, I didn’t pay much attention to it.” He added, “I was quite surprised about the dispute but Musk did apologize.”

The two appeared to have put aside the public quarrel stemming from last Thursday and are not willing to continue with the dispute. Trump expressed that he was very surprised that Musk offered him his support as a candidate and he also understood Musk’s frustration “since I’m going to get rid of tax incentives for electric vehicles but that’s not beneficial for him”.

In Trump’s first term, his relationship with Musk was not so open, since Musk left the position of economic advisor shortly after and publicly criticized the government on issues like immigration. Afterwards, Musk endorsed Florida governor De Santis in his bid to become president and mocked Trump for being too old, which led to Trump’s famous public humiliation.

In July 2022, Trump posted on his social media, “When Musk came to the White House and asked me to help him with ventures that depend on incentives, such as electric vehicles that do not have the range and can crash, or spacecraft that go nowhere, Musk did not say anything without those incentives. He also told me he was a huge Trump supporter and a Republican. I could have told him ‘get on your knees,’ and he would have done it.”

Musk did not respond to these insults. He didn’t have a strong relationship with the Democrats, and had not yet fully supported the Republicans. But when California Governor Newsom mocked his behavior with Trump and how he showed him reverence, Musk grew extremely angry. Perhaps he knew well enough that he couldn’t have fallen out with both parties at the same time.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in political donations have completely changed this dynamic. As Trump’s biggest financial supporter, Musk quickly became the main friend of the former president. Although Musk’s public support of Trump and Republicans seems incongruous, and despite Trump’s earlier stance of taking away all incentives for electric vehicles and alternative energies.

However, his hatred for the Democrats completely changed Musk’s behavior. During the Biden administration, Musk and President Biden, the California government, and Democratic leaders clashed on a multitude of issues like unions, regulatory policies and rich people’s income tax, and Musk felt he had been turned into an enemy of the Democrats. His eldest son changed his gender to a girl, and Musk angrily claimed that “leftist ideology had killed my children.”

Regardless of all that power, no matter how wealthy you actually are, you are still in a weaker position when it comes to dealing with the President. This case with Musk and Trump led to Musk’s public apology, which puts him at a disadvantage. Since the President is in a position of power, wealth does not matter if one cannot be given any support.

President Underwood, from the television show *House of Cards* understands well the power of wealth and money.

“Money is like a big house in a wealthy neighborhood that has dilapidated after ten years, but power is like a stone building, which remains upright over centuries.” In other words, wealth is nothing but an illusion and only power lasts forever. This can be applied to a business transaction and the government.