White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said the relationship between President Trump and billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk had a “troublesome ending,” despite the close and almost fatherly relationship the two shared.
In an interview with the New York Post’s Miranda Devine, Wiles was asked how she would describe the relationship and expressed that she didn’t understand what went sour.
“He had a sort of fatherly fixation with Donald Trump that I guess, inevitably, was going to blow up at some point. How did you see that relationship?” Devine asked.
“Similar,” Wiles replied.
The chief of staff added, “The president was very, very kind to him, and Elon had so much to offer us. He knew things we didn’t know. He knew people and technologies that we didn’t know. It was a great thing when it was a great thing and had a very, I think, a very troublesome ending.”
Wiles said she didn’t know why Trump’s falling out with Musk, who was previously at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), occurred.
“I don’t know; I don’t understand it,” she said. “I enjoyed working with Elon. I think he is a fascinating person and sees the world differently, and I think that’s probably what the president saw, too. Just a little bit different than the average Joe. But it certainly came to not a good ending.”
Devine said Trump has had a “pretty smooth presidency” besides “one little hiccup” with Musk.
“Yeah, little hiccup?” Wiles said, slightly laughing.
Wiles also described Musk’s approach to business, organizations and government as “quirky” and said he might be the world’s smartest man.
Trump and Musk had a public and messy feud in June, days after the billionaire left his role at the White House and blasted the Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” that Trump has since signed into law.
Both men signaled they were ready to move on from their bitter fight, but it reignited earlier this month as Congress worked to get the massive package passed.
Musk on Monday trolled Trump, knocking the administration for making no arrests related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. The Tesla chief executive had previously said “the truth will come out” about Epstein and alleged that Trump is in the files about the deceased sex offender and financier.
Trump, meanwhile, has threatened to cut government contracts for Musk’s companies and left open the possibility of deporting the CEO to South Africa, where he was born.
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