Elon Musk with US President Donald Trump in the White House earlier this year. File photo / Getty Images
President Donald Trump split with tech giant Elon Musk almost two months ago.
But he can’t escape one of his former friend’s parting blows: A damning accusation that the United States President’s name appears in the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files.
During the public implosion of his alliance with the President in early June, Musk claimed that Trump was refusing to release files related to the accused sex trafficker because the President was named in the documents.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the claim as an “unfortunate episode”, suggesting that Musk’s outburst stemmed from frustration with the adverse effects Trump’s tax legislation would have on his businesses.
Now, seven weeks later, new revelations bolster the mercurial billionaire’s claims.
And even if Musk’s goal was merely to stoke the controversy without necessarily settling it, his mission has been accomplished - and then some.
Right-wing influencers and conspiracy theorists have alleged without evidence for years that the federal government suppressed information to protect famous associates of Epstein, who they assert may have participated in his sex crimes.
The controversy boiled over earlier this month, when Trump’s Justice Department announced it would disclose no more documents related to the case.
Perhaps most damning of all was a Wall Street Journal report last week that Attorney-General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that his name appeared in the files multiple times.
“Elon was right,” tweeted financier Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as communications director during the first Trump White House.
“He knew it!” Late Show host Stephen Colbert joked. “I always said. I always said that he’s a good guy who’s right about everything.”
The uncontained controversy threatens to further fray Musk and Trump’s torn relationship.
And it reveals how Musk remains a potent political risk for Trump months after he publicly left the White House, where he enjoyed unprecedented access and insight into the President’s life as the so-called “first buddy”, rarely leaving his side during the transition and early months of his second term.
Neither the White House nor Musk immediately responded to a request for comment.
White House communications director Steven Cheung called the Wall Street Journal report on the Bondi meeting “another fake news story”.
The Trump Administration also sued the Journal after the outlet reported that Trump submitted a sketch of a naked woman bearing his name as part of a bawdy birthday gift for Epstein.
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell before he faced trial on sex-trafficking charges. Officials ruled his death a suicide.
Musk has not commented on the Wall Street Journal report, and he deleted the original tweet that claimed Trump appeared in the Epstein files.
But he has fanned outrage over Trump’s decision to not release the files in posts on X, using his megaphone on a platform he owns to keep the issue in the social media feeds of his 223 million followers, even as Trump unsuccessfully tried to convince his supporters to move on from the case.
This month, Musk accused the Trump Administration of engaging in “a cover up (obviously)”.
“So many powerful people want that list suppressed,” he wrote in a separate post.
Musk has also asked Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot built by his start-up xAI, to weigh in on the matter several times.
“Please make a thorough list of all those who should be investigated for possible rape of underage girls provided by Epstein,” Musk wrote. “Think hard and research thoroughly. Order by probable severity and frequency of their crimes.”
X has become more popular among conservative users after Musk purchased it in 2022 and unravelled many of the company’s defences against disinformation.
Some of the most high-profile skirmishes over the Epstein files got their start on the social media platform, originating from Maga influencers such as Laura Loomer, who had been banned from the site but was later restored by Musk.
Trending topics on X have included the hashtag “#TrumpIsAPedoRapist”.
At some moments, Musk has paused his taunts to defend the President.
Following the Journal report on the naked sketch, Musk said: “It really doesn’t sound like something Trump would say tbh”.
Yet Musk stoked tensions with the White House as Trump rolled out a raft of AI executive orders and appeared at a conference on Thursday hosted by some of Musk’s longtime friends and business partners who co-host the “All-In” podcast, including AI and crypto tsar David Sacks.
Musk had previously acted as a bridge between Trump and the tech world, and his absence was palpable at the event.
Allies of Musk serving in the Trump Administration have had to tread carefully, largely declining to comment on the feud between the President and one of the world’s most powerful business leaders.
In a sign of the awkwardness, the “All-In” show opted not to discuss the public feud between Musk and Trump in June.
The Trump-Musk relationship has long been marked by contradictions and inconsistencies, and that has not changed.
Trump signed an executive order that bars federal agencies from using “woke AI”, which appeared to be a boon to Grok, as xAI instructs the agent to prioritise “truth-seeking” over political correctness. But when asked whether Trump wanted xAI to receive contracts, Leavitt responded, “I don’t think so, no”.
Trump on Truth Social appeared to walk back previous threats against Musk’s companies and wrote that he would not take away large subsidies from the billionaire’s businesses, which include SpaceX and Tesla.
“I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before!,” Trump wrote. “The better they do, the better the USA does, and that’s good for all of us.”
Musk did not accept the olive branch, responding that the “subsidies” Trump was referring to do not exist.
He criticised Trump for slashing tax credits for electric vehicle companies in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ while retaining subsidies for the oil and gas industries.
He also warned that it would be impossible for the federal Government to cut its ties with SpaceX.
“SpaceX won the Nasa contracts by doing a better job for less money,” Musk wrote.
“Moving those contracts to other aerospace companies would leave astronauts stranded and taxpayers on the hook for twice as much!”