Donald Trump says Elon Musk (above) has "lost his mind" amid their White House feud. Photo / Francis Chung / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Donald Trump says Elon Musk (above) has "lost his mind" amid their White House feud. Photo / Francis Chung / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Donald Trump says Elon Musk has “lost his mind” as he attempts to draw a line under a bitter White House feud.
On Friday, the US President said he was “not particularly” interested in speaking with Musk after the pair clashed publicly over his tax and spending bill.
White Housesources told the Telegraph that the President was “over it” and wanted to move on from the public spat, raising hopes of a truce.
Musk had called for Trump to be impeached and linked the President to the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein at the height of a toxic row that played out on the two men’s social media platforms.
Musk appeared to climb down early on Friday amid reports of a White House call to smooth relations.
Trump is "over it" and focused on passing his tax and spending bill. Photo / Getty Images
Asked if he would get on the phone with Musk, Trump told ABC News: “You mean the man who has lost his mind?”
Trump and Musk have resisted any further public attacks.
A Trump official told the Telegraph: “I don’t think the President is interested in speaking to Elon right now. But he’s also over it and wants to stay focused on passing the bill.
“That was his mindset when he left last night, and that’s his mindset moving forward.”
Insiders told the Telegraph that Vice-President JD Vance could be positioned as the man to mediate in the feud and act as a bridge between the pair.
Trump is now planning to give away or sell the red Tesla Model S, which he purchased from Musk in March.
It is parked at the White House and staffers use it to move around the capital.
Shares of Musk’s electric car company tanked by more than 14% on Thursday when investors dumped holdings as the row intensified.
Tesla shares fell 14% but rose 5% as tensions cooled, regaining a US$1 trillion value. Photo / Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images
But as tensions cooled on Friday, shares rose 5% in early trading on Wall Street, pushing the company’s market value back above US$1 trillion ($1.7tn).
Since stepping down as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) last week, Musk has trashed Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill, describing it as a “disgusting abomination” that will increase the national debt.
The bill will end tax breaks for electric vehicles worth billions to his company.
One insider described Trump as concerned about Musk’s mental state, telling Politico: “The President is worried Elon is not well… and is just kind of freaking out”.
Another senior official hinted that the administration is unsurprised that their relationship has suddenly soured.
US President Donald Trump called Musk "the man who has lost his mind" in a recent interview. Photo / Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images
“Everyone knew this was gonna end badly. We’re dealing with someone who is unstable… we saw it coming,” they said.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, called Musk’s behaviour “an unfortunate episode”, adding the Tesla boss is “unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted”.
In a post on X, Leavitt wrote that Trump’s “number one focus” is ensuring that the legislation passes smoothly.
“This is a transformative piece of legislation that delivers on the Make America Great Agenda by delivering the largest tax cuts and border security investments in HISTORY,” she said.
