Elon Musk has softened his stance towards President Donald Trump after a period of intense criticism. This shift comes amid protests in Los Angeles over actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Last week, Musk called for Trump’s impeachment and made allegations, without evidence, about Trump’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
Over the weekend, Musk deleted these posts and began supporting the Trump administration’s handling of the LA protests. He added American flags to a post from Vice President JD Vance about how the “president will not tolerate rioting and violence.”
Musk, who supports closed borders and strict immigration policies, aligned himself with Trump on the issue. He also re-followed White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a key official on immigration policy, whose wife recently left the White House to work with Musk.
Despite showing support for Trump, Musk continued to subtly critique the president’s domestic policies. He agreed with a social media user who claimed that Musk’s disagreements with Trump were genuine. Musk also reposted a satirical article critiquing the Republican agenda, highlighting his discontent with Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” which he believes contradicts efforts to reduce federal spending and the deficit.
Wall Street analysts remain hopeful that Musk and Trump will reconcile. “While we do not expect Trump and Musk to be back to their Mar-a-Lago connected at the hip days, it would not be a surprise to see Trump and Musk slowly mend the fences over the coming months,” wrote WedBush analyst Dan Ives. Tesla’s stock rose 4.6% on Monday, showing market optimism.
However, it remains below where it started before Musk’s public fallout with Trump. The president hinted at a possible reconciliation, telling reporters, “We had a good relationship, I wish him well, very well,” though he remained noncommittal about future discussions. This evolving relationship between two influential figures continues to draw significant public and media attention, reflecting the complex dynamics between business and political interests in the current landscape.
Tensions between Trump and Musk reached a breaking point on Thursday after both exchanged insults, mostly on social media. During an Oval Office meeting with the Chancellor of Germany, Trump expressed his disappointment with Musk’s opposition to his spending bill, saying he would rather have Musk criticize him than the bill because the “bill is incredible.”
Musk began attacking the president on X, noting at one point that without him, “Trump would have lost the election.” The fallout comes just days after Musk’s departure from the Trump administration as a special government employee. Protests flared up in Los Angeles as demonstrators against immigration raids faced off with law enforcement.
The city saw a second day of unrest on Saturday in response to federal raids that reportedly led to the detention of dozens of individuals. Riot police used tear gas and flash grenades to disperse protesters, highlighting the intense opposition to the immigration policies. Elon Musk called President Donald Trump on Monday night before expressing regret for his harshest criticisms of the president.
Two sources said that Musk reached out to Trump after a public feud between them.
Musk softens position amid LA protests
By early Wednesday, Musk admitted that some of his social media posts about Trump went too far.
The call with Trump followed conversations Musk had with Vice President JD Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on the previous Friday. During these discussions, the feud between Trump and Musk was addressed, and Musk began to back off from his critical social media posts. Musk deleted some of his most critical posts, including those related to Jeffrey Epstein and remarks agreeing that Trump should be impeached.
On Wednesday, Musk wrote on social media, “I regret some of my posts about President last week. They went too far.”
Republican lawmakers and prominent Trump allies have spent the past week urging Musk to reconcile with Trump and support his domestic policy bill. Many of Trump’s close advisers, who had formed relationships with Musk during Trump’s presidency, sought to bring Musk back into the fold through text messages and phone calls.
These allies tried to deescalate the feud and explain the necessity of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which faces challenges in the Senate. Sources familiar with these interactions said that Musk was receptive to the outreach but expressed concerns over insufficient spending cuts in the legislation. House Speaker Mike Johnson mentioned that he was in touch with Musk and was “trying to be a peacemaker” between Musk and Trump.
Johnson expressed optimism about reconciliation, saying, “I think the temperature’s being turned down, and I’m very hopeful that these two will reconcile.”
While reconciliation seems possible, many close to Trump hope Musk will openly support the bill. “He has real concerns, but we’re all hoping he comes around. His words carry a lot of weight,” one source said.
By the time Wiles and Vance spoke with Musk, it appeared that Trump and Musk had already begun to deescalate their feud. “Musk appeared to already be backing off at that point, and the president wasn’t as pissed by then as he was the day before,” one source said. Despite the public falling out, White House officials have left open the possibility of Trump and Musk repairing their relationship.
Vance recorded the Theo Von podcast on Thursday, where he criticized Musk’s attacks on Trump but expressed hope for reconciliation. Over the weekend, as unrest and protests of immigration raids began in Los Angeles, Musk seemed to align with Trump’s stance on the situation. Musk posted American flags in a show of support for the administration and shared a post from Trump criticizing California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Musk re-followed White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk, who had been publicly calling for Musk and Trump to make amends. Kirk stated his optimism about their reconciliation effort on Megyn Kelly’s show. Musk’s message of regret on Wednesday reached Trump, who commented in a brief phone interview, “I thought it was very nice that he did that.”
Kirstie a technology news reporter at DevX. She reports on emerging technologies and startups waiting to skyrocket.
