President Donald Trump shared the "surprising" reason Elon Musk turned against him in a bizarre public meltdown that Musk has since said he regrets.
Trump suggested that his alliance with the Tesla CEO fractured over electric vehicle policy -- with Trump saying he was surprised Musk didn't raise his concerns on the campaign trail.
Trump signed a resolution Thursday that overturns California's electric car mandate, which would phase out all gas-powered cars in the state by 2035.
In comments during the signing, Trump said he was surprised Musk endorsed his campaign in the first place, given Trump's public opposition to the mandate.
“This has been there from day one [that] we’re going to abolish the EV mandate. And Elon still endorsed me,” Trump said.
“Honestly, he never ever spoke to me about that. And I used to say, ‘I’m amazed that he’s endorsing me because that can’t be good for him," he went on.
Trump said he brought it up with his "friend," and the Tesla CEO told him that he had no issue, as long as all electric car companies would be treated the same.
“And I once asked him about it… He said, ‘Well, so long as it’s happening to everybody, I’ll be able to compete.’ It was a very interesting answer. I thought it was a very honest answer.”
It seemed that everything was "cool," Trump said... until it wasn't.
"I said, 'That's very cool. It's very good.' That was my answer. After that, he got a little bit strange… over much smaller things," Trump recalled.
When he suddenly turned against Trump last week, Musk cited concerns with the federal deficit, ripping Trump's reconciliation bill as a "disgusting abomination" -- but the vicious nature of the insults that followed pointed to something personal.
Trump reacted, mostly, with restraint as Musk called for Trump's impeachment, took credit for his election win and claimed, without proof, that Trump is implicated in the Epstein files.
As their relationship unraveled in public, the president expressed disappointment that Musk did not object to the "Big, Beautiful Bill" sooner, with Trump accusing Musk of being upset that the bill removes electric car tax credits.
"I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people," Trump said in the Oval Office at the time. "He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem."
Musk has since expressed regret for his erratic meltdown, but the president doesn't seem to be in a big hurry to reconcile.
