is officially ghosting, and he might be about to ghost his Tesla too.
The White House told AFP that “the president does not intend to speak to Musk today”, after Musk reportedly requested a call to patch things up. A second official backed it up, saying it was “true” that Musk had reached out.
Instead, Trump is apparently “totally” focused on his “big, beautiful” spending bill, which Musk recently torched as an “abomination” for raising the US deficit.
If you’re wondering just how icy things have gotten, a senior White House official said that Trump is considering selling or giving away the cherry-red Tesla S he bought from Musk’s company back when they were still on speaking terms, as reported by the ABC.
The car is apparently still parked on the White House grounds, but when asked if Trump would get rid of it, the official said, “He’s thinking about it, yes.”
This all comes after, Musk had seen a whopping AUD $52 million drop from his personal net worth one day into the feud, per the Sydney Morning Herald.
Tesla’s stock also copped a 14 per cent hit on Thursday, losing around $100 billion in market value before clawing some back on Friday, as reported by ABC. The drama is more than just a billionaire slap-fight — Musk’s companies rely on fat government contracts, and Trump has publicly suggested those could be in jeopardy.
Trump phoned in to several US networks to say he’s “looking past the row”.
He called Musk “the man who has lost his mind” on ABC and told CBS he was “totally” focused on the presidency, per Rolling Stone.
Meanwhile, Musk tried to dial down the drama after threatening to scrap SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which NASA needs to ferry astronauts.
“This is a shame this back and forth. You are both better than this. Cool off and take a step back for a couple of days,” a user named @Fab25june wrote on X on Friday.
Musk replied: “Good advice. OK, we won’t decommission Dragon”.
Even Trump’s former adviser got a mention, saying Musk had an “expiration date”. Navarro told reporters, “No, I’m not glad or whatever. People come and go from the White House.”
Vice-President also weighed in, defending Trump against claims he’s “impulsive or short-tempered”, but notably didn’t take a swipe at Musk.
So, will Trump actually offload his Tesla? Will Musk try calling again, or just send a ‘u up’ text?
For now, the car’s still parked, the feud’s still simmering, and the rest of us are left watching two of the world’s most powerful men trade insults and government contracts like it’s a particularly expensive episode of The Real Housewives.
If you want a recap of all the drama that is going on between the boys (inclduing the receipts) you can click HERE.
Lead image: Getty
