Though their unexpectedly close friendship was once the talk of the political world, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk engaged in a very public falling out last week, during which all sorts of incendiary accusations and threats were made.
However, it seems that Musk is backtracking a bit from one of his most jarring salvos, now stating that he will not decommission his company's Dragon spacecraft -- used by NASA to transport astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station -- after all, as Breitbart reports.
The feud between Trump and Musk reached a boiling point on Thursday, with the two former allies trading barbs the likes of which few expected.
Musk's discontent appeared to be piqued by the Trump-backed “Big Beautiful Bill” that the tech entrepreneur believes is an irresponsible expansion of America's debt.
The mudslinging ramped up from there, with Musk declaring that Trump's alleged presence in the Jeffrey Epstein files is the reason they have not been released and aligning himself with a social media suggestion that the president deserves impeachment.
Trump responded by flexing his own leverage against Musk, posting on his Truth Social platform, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions of Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”
That remark prompted Musk to write on X, “Go ahead, make my day,” later adding that he would commence the process of decommissioning Dragon -- the only U.S. company currently capable of bringing crews to and from the International Space Station -- as a result.
Whether Musk was serious about his threat regarding Dragon remains unclear, but just hours after the original threat, he indicated in a response to another X post that he would not proceed with the stated plan.
Replying to a commenter who suggested that the powerful men should take a step back and expressed hope that cooler heads might prevail in the worsening rift, Musk said, “Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon.”
That was not the only sign that Musk may be rethinking his scorched earth approach to the president, with ABC News reporting that he appeared to have deleted some of his most startling posts, including the one that included the aforementioned Epstein allegation.
Additional reporting amid the rift hinted that a phone conversation between Trump and Musk might have been on the cards for Friday, but the White House tamped down such speculation and revealed that no such discussion was planned.
Though Trump did engage in Thursday's social media war of words with Musk and later suggested that the billionaire would face “serious consequences” if he funds Democratic Party challengers to Republicans who support the aforementioned bill, he soon downshifted to a tone of indifference about the former first buddy.
Implying that their once strong association was likely over, Trump said he has little interest in reconciliation with Musk, noting, “I'm really interested in the country and solving problems.”
In a remark that arguably had a note of pity to it, particularly in light of his earlier observation that Musk had “a problem” which some commentators have interpreted as related to drug addiction, Trump added, “I'm not thinking about Elon. I just wish him well.”
