Elon Musk said in a social media post earlier Wednesday that he regretted some of the posts and comments about President Trump last week, which led the president to devalue the tech billionaire, a hatred that played in real time on social media.
Mr. Musk said on X that some of his posts about Mr. Trump “goed too far.”
Mr. Musk, the richest man in the world, was once one of the president’s closest advisers. But the drama and public failure of him and Mr. Trump after the Tesla CEO left the administration.
Both traded barbs on social media, and Trump said last week that he had no interest in fixing the relationship.
Mr. Musk’s public expression of regret is another sign of potential melting in the standoff with the president. Even last week, Mr. Musk agreed with an article on X that suggested the two were “more powerful together.” Mr. Musk has since deleted his most burning social media posts. Mr. Trump also downplayed some of his public criticisms of Mr. Musk.
His transformation emphasizes the complex dynamics between two men. Mr. Musk, the largest donor in Republican politics, raised about $275 million to Trump’s re-election campaign. He also has more followers than anyone else on the social media platform X he owns.
But Mr. Trump has great political power over Mr. Musk. The billionaire company, especially Tesla and Space X, has won billions of dollars in federal contracts in recent years. As two men colluded online last week, Mr. Trump threatened to cut them off as a way to “save money” in the federal budget.
The quarrel between the two men initially focused on Mr. Musk’s criticism of Mr. Trump’s signature domestic policy bill, which he condemned as “disgusting aversion.” But it quickly translates into trivial and quirky attacks.
For example, Mr. Musk suggested that the Trump administration did not publish archives on embarrassing financier Jeffrey Epstein because Mr. Trump was in it. Mr. Trump has asked why Mr. Musk did not wear makeup to cover up his dark eyes during his Oval Office appearance last week.
