In the aftermath of a public standoff last week with the president, the richest man in the world is trying to reposition himself and work his way back into Donald Trump’s good graces.
Billionaire Elon Musk, in a series of re-shares and posts on X over the weekend, expressed support for Trump’s actions supporting ICE raids in Los Angeles and the president’s attempts to squelch protests by deploying the National Guard. That was in stark contrast to his vocal online criticism of the president that went from professional to personal in a matter of days.
Not long after the president’s laudatory Oval Office send-off for Musk on May 30, the first buddy-turned-nemesis dueled with his former boss in a spectacular public spat on social media. Musk criticized the president’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill,” a tax and policy package making its way through Congress, calling it a “disgusting abomination” that would burden Americans with “crushing debt” and agreeing with a post that called for Trump’s impeachment.
Then Musk went nuclear.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” he wrote on X on June 5 to his more than 220 million followers. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
That Trump had crossed paths with Jeffrey Epstein, a disgraced financier who died while in jail awaiting prosecution on sex trafficking charges, has been public knowledge for years. In 2019, Trump said he’d had a “falling out” with Epstein, whom he described as a “Palm Beach fixture,” in the mid-2000s.
Now, two days after he’d dropped the bomb, the mercurial billionaire appears to be rethinking those allegations.
In less than 48 hours, Musk deleted the Epstein post on X.
Then, over the weekend, Musk’s reshared post calling for Trump’s impeachment disappeared.
Instead, Musk highlighted Trump’s Truth Social post criticizing California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for failing to rein in unruly immigration protests in Los Angeles following ICE raids.
“Governor Gavin Newscum and Mayor Bass should apologize to the people of Los Angeles for the absolutely horrible job that they have done, and this now includes the ongoing LA riots,” wrote Trump. “These are not protesters; they are troublemakers and insurrectionists. Remember, No Masks!”
While Musk has differences with Trump about the spending bill, he has consistently supported Trump’s aggressive push to deport undocumented immigrants.
Hours after Trump’s controversial decision to deploy California National Guard troops to respond to anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles, Musk posted an image of a man in face paint standing on top of a burning car waving a Mexican flag.
“This is not ok,” Musk said in his post on X.
He also reposted Vice President JD Vance’s post sharing Trump’s Truth Social post saying the “president will not tolerate rioting and violence.”
The reason for Musk’s shift in tone is not clear, although he seemed to voice some regret hours after the big social media fight, after mutual friends of Musk and the president, including hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman and rapper Kanye West, urged the duo to make peace.
“I support @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk and they should make peace for the benefit of our great country. We are much stronger together than apart,” wrote Ackman.
Musk responded with a simple: “You’re not wrong.”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Musk ready to rekindle his bromance with Trump?
