Republicans are hoping for a détente between Donald Trump and Elon Musk after Thursday’s blowup, warning that the fight between the two men could distract from the president’s agenda and derail Congress’ “Big Beautiful Bill.”
The battle between the president and the world’s richest man escalated from a simmer to a full-on scorched-earth showdown over the course of the day on Thursday — starting with light criticism in the morning that escalated to Trump targeting Musk’s pocket book and Musk saying the president was an associate of a notorious convicted sex criminal and suggesting he may need to be impeached.
“I just hope it resolves quickly, for the sake of the country,” Speaker Mike Johnson told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday morning.
POLITICO reported Thursday night that White House aides were looking to broker a peace between the two men and were planning on scheduling a call between the two camps.
“Oh, it’s OK,” Trump told POLITICO in a brief telephone call Thursday when asked about the very public breakup. “It’s going very well, never done better.” Trump went on to tout his favorability ratings saying, “The numbers are through the roof, the highest polls I’ve ever had and I have to go.”
A senior administration official and a person close to the White House — both granted anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking around the blowup — said the president had been convinced Thursday night that continuing to engage with Musk would be counterproductive and a distraction from a host of good news the White House should be focused on, from his talks with Xi Jinping to negotiating a deal with Iran and ushering his “big beautiful” reconciliation bill through Congress, which was the root cause of the blowup.
But Trump has displayed some lingering frustration with his one-time benefactor. He told ABC News that Musk has “lost his mind” — and he is “not particularly” interested in talking to Musk. He also told CNN that “the poor guy’s got a problem.”
Still, Republican legislators Friday are following Johnson’s lead, keeping with the theme of deescalation in the fallout of the public fight.
“Both of them have paid a tremendous price personally for this country, and I think at the end of the day, they’re both going to put the country first,” said Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas). “And them working together is certainly far more better for the country.”
Department of Government Efficiency caucus Chair Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) said Friday he was “shocked and dismayed” to see his “two friends fighting,” but remains an “optimist” that the former allies can work it out.
“I believe there’s a Diet Coke in their future, that they can settle it and cooler heads will prevail,” Bean said. “We need them together. We need to be united, and we’re stronger together. So I’m very optimistic that there will be a happy ending very soon.”
But even as they seek to not escalate the fight, party faithfuls are still making clear where their allegiances lie.
“I don’t tell my friend Elon how to — I don’t argue with him about how to build rockets. And I wish he wouldn’t argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it,” Johnson told CNBC.
He later told reporters on Capitol Hill that “I hope they reconcile. I believe in redemption. … I think it’s good for the party and the country if all this worked out. But I tell you what: do not doubt, do not second guess and don’t ever challenge the president of the United States, Donald Trump.”
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) went a step further, saying he thinks “Elon is getting too personal” in his attacks.
“It’s getting out of control,” Nehls said Thursday. “They got to stop it. I think it’s, you know, it’s not healthy. And some of the most recent comments, I think, Elon, you’ve lost your mind.”
But Johnson — who was also targeted by Musk Thursday — largely on Friday kept his cool in responding to Musk, brushing off his claim that he landed Republicans their 2024 victory.
“Elon was a big contributor in the last election,” the speaker acknowledged to CNBC, “but this was a whole team effort. I mean, President Trump is the most consequential political figure of his generation — of modern American history. He is the one responsible for that. But we all worked hard. We delivered the House majority.”
The speaker said he was with the president in the Oval Office for part of the showdown on X, a meeting reported earlier by POLITICO. Trump seemed “disappointed” by Musk’s attacks, the speaker said, reiterating that he is a “huge fan and supporter of President Trump” for good measure. He told POLITICO Friday he hasn’t spoken with Musk yet.
The White House has sought to project an air of calm despite Musk’s relentless attacks — but aides there remain wary of the Tesla CEO popping off again.The two people close to the president said several Trump allies — including at least one White House official — tried to reach Musk by phone when he was on his rampage on X, but Musk was not taking calls for a time.
The way Musk reacted to the president’s comments made White House officials feel like they were dealing with an “unhinged” situation, the senior administration official said Thursday — and that they had to just ignore what he was doing. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via press or personal contact information for his companies.
“Everybody is just like, ‘OK, this is manic and crazy,’” the official said, “and we’re just gonna move along and pass the bill. And that’s kind of the feeling of everyone right now.”
Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.
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