New Delhi: Tesla CEO Elon Musk Wednesday expressed “regret” over his criticism of US President Donald Trump, just days after a dramatic and public fallout between the two estranged allies. Musk’s sudden apology comes ahead of the launch of a new Tesla product.
In a post on X, where he had earlier called for Trump’s impeachment and attacked his “big beautiful bill”, Musk, in the early hours of Wednesday in the US, said, “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”
He also deleted a number of his earlier posts, including the one where he claimed Trump had been named in the files linked to convicted child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The about-face has come just ahead of a key Tesla product launch next week, according to reports. On 22 June, Tesla is scheduled to launch its highly-anticipated robo taxi service in Austin, Texas. Musk has hinged the future of Tesla on cracking self-driving cars, and the rollout is key to the automaker’s valuations. Analysts were concerned that an angry Trump could impose federal regulatory measures.
I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025
Investors appeared to welcome the shift in Musk’s stance, with Tesla’s stock rising 2.6 percent in pre-market trading, according to The Guardian.
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History of criticisms, but not apologies
While Musk has a history of criticising world leaders, rarely, if ever, has he issued an apology. For instance, earlier this year, in a post on X, he told former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that his opinion on the unification of Canada and the US “doesn’t matter”. He has also publicly called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “evil” and for UK MP Jess Phillips to be jailed. He has not apologised for any of these comments.
However, it seems the cost of doing so with Trump was too high to pay—Musk has extensive dealings with the federal government, and the cancellations of those contracts would cost him billions. There was also the chance that Trump could introduce regulatory oversight over Musk’s companies.
In a Truth Social post last week, Trump had threatened to terminate “Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts”, saying it could save the government billions. While it’s debatable if a complete cancellation of Musk’s contracts was possible, given, for example, that another one of his companies, SpaceX, currently handles the majority of US government satellite launches, the threat seems to have worked.
On his part, Musk too briefly threatened to pull SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which ferries NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, before walking back on that statement as well.
Tensions between Musk and Trump have been simmering for months. Once close allies, Musk donated tens of millions to Trump’s campaign and was appointed head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Trump’s second term.
However, the relationship began to sour over trade policy and internal administration disputes. Musk clashed publicly with White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, calling him “truly a moron” after Navarro said Tesla was not a “car manufacturer” but a “car assembler”.
In April, Musk advised against Trump’s tariff strategy, favouring instead a zero-tariff trade zone between the US and Europe. “I’m hopeful that at the end of the day, we move to free trade,” he told Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini at the time.
Though the White House initially downplayed the Musk-Trump spat—US press secretary Karoline Leavitt brushed it off by saying “boys will be boys” comment—the president himself weighed in more seriously in recent days. On Monday, in an NBC News interview, Trump said Musk had shown “disrespect” toward the office of the president, and hinted that his administration might “review” federal contracts tied to Musk’s companies.
Still, signs of reconciliation began to appear earlier this week—even alongside the very public social media exchanges. At the time, when hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, in a post on X called for reconciliation, saying that they’re better together, Musk responded, “You’re not wrong.”
In another interview Monday, Vice President J.D. Vance said that Trump found Musk’s criticisms “unfair,” but added the president was not interested in a prolonged feud. “If Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine.” He also called Musk ‘a transformational entrepreneur’.
Musk responded to the interview with a single word on X: “cool.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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