President Donald Trump expressed a particular interest in having a conversation with Elon Musk, commenting that the tech billionaire and a former special employee from his administration “lost his heart.”
Tensions have been rising between the two, primarily due to Musk’s criticisms of Trump’s major infrastructure bill. This friction even led to Musk allegedly undermining America’s ability to reach the International Space Station, while Trump felt compelled to call out Musk on various fronts.
On Friday morning, during an interview with Jonathan Karl from ABC News, Trump shared he was slated to speak with some former allies later that day.
Trump remarked, “Are you referring to a man who lost his heart?” indicating he thought Musk wanted to reach out, but he wasn’t overly enthusiastic about fulfilling that at the moment.
Karl noted that Trump seemed rather apathetic regarding their disagreement, almost as if it were the least engaging news of the day.
Following Musk’s recent comments on X, one of Trump’s aides mentioned that the president seemed more “offended” than angry by the comments.
Karl insisted that this was the impression Trump had on Friday morning.
Speaking to Politics the same morning, Trump addressed how he feels about his public standing, saying, “Things are fine. It’s going great, and honestly, they usually don’t.” He added that poll numbers were soaring, marking some of the best he’s ever had.
On Wednesday, Musk criticized Trump’s recruitment efforts linked to the infrastructure bill, which has upset many Republicans due to proposed cuts in funding. Musk specifically mentioned the significant reduction in tax credits for electric vehicles.
Musk’s father, Errol, shared that he had been in touch with his son and predicted that Elon would come out on top in resolving the feud with Trump.
Errol Musk expressed, “It seems a bit ludicrous to me.”
When asked if this was a minor issue or a significant break in the relationship between Trump and his son, he suggested it was just a temporary setback: “It’ll blow over in a few days.”
Errol added, “I haven’t spoken with him directly, but I did send him a message. I think there’s some exhaustion on all sides, yet it’s interesting for older generations to witness these high-level interactions.” He hinted it might be a sign of changing dynamics in America.
Olivia Rondeau is a political reporter based in Washington, DC.
