USA: Elon Musk Backs Off from Feud with Trump Amid Business Fallout Concerns

Elon Musk backs down from feud with Trump, expresses regret over past posts, amid concerns about political backlash and potential impact on Tesla and government contracts.

Elon Musk has dialed down his heated dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump, expressing regret over some of his recent remarks. In a post on X early Wednesday morning, Musk stated, “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”

This apparent softening comes after Musk's public fallout with Trump — a former ally for whom Musk had spent significant sums to support electorally — and signals what may be the end of his sway within the Trump-influenced political landscape. The tension has raised alarms about potential consequences for Musk’s companies, which hold numerous government contracts and could be especially exposed to retaliation. Trump has already hinted at the possibility of cutting Musk’s access to federal business deals.

Previously, Musk deleted a controversial post in which he alleged — without offering proof — that the government was hiding information regarding Trump’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Nonetheless, other posts that displeased Trump, such as Musk’s criticism of a recent spending bill which he called an “abomination,” and his assertion that he was instrumental in Trump’s election success, remain on his account.

In an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday, Trump made it clear that he has no interest in repairing their relationship. He went further to caution that Musk could face “serious consequences” should he attempt to support Democratic candidates in the upcoming elections.

Tesla shareholders have been closely monitoring the dispute, worried about the implications for the company. On Tuesday night, Musk shared another update on X, announcing that Tesla's robotaxi service is “tentatively” set to launch in Austin, Texas, on June 22. Analysts on Wall Street have voiced concerns that Trump might use federal safety regulators to delay or obstruct a wider rollout of the robotaxi service — an initiative considered pivotal to Tesla's future strategy.

Despite the political friction, Tesla stock rebounded nearly 2% during early trading on Wednesday, recovering fully from the significant drop it experienced the previous Thursday, when the Trump-Musk confrontation first became public.