President Donald Trump offered surprisingly positive remarks about tech billionaire and former ally Elon Musk, just weeks after the two clashed publicly over the Trump-endorsed Big Beautiful Bill.
Speaking to reporters during a White House event alongside Apple CEO Tim Cook and several senior cabinet members, Trump was asked about a recent Gallup poll ranking Musk among the most unpopular public figures in the country.
“I’m wondering, do you miss having him around the White House or is that poll accurate?” the president was asked. “I don’t know if the poll is accurate. I think he’s a good person,” Trump responded. “I think he had a bad moment, really bad moment, but he’s a good person. I believe that.”
Tensions between Trump and Musk came to a head in June after the Tesla, SpaceX, and X CEO harshly criticized the Trump-backed Big Beautiful Bill, which included several key items on the president’s legislative agenda. Musk said he opposed the bill over concerns about government spending and national debt, but several senior administration officials claimed his real frustration stemmed from the elimination of electric vehicle subsidies carried over from the Biden era.
During the height of the feud, Musk falsely accused Trump of appearing on the “Epstein list.” He later deleted the post and issued an apology, but the allegation has since been widely adopted as a talking point by Democratic critics.
After the Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4, Musk claimed that he would be starting a new political party. “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Musk posted on June 30. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”
Subsequent reports, however, noted that Musk has yet to formally launch the party, and it’s not clear at this point whether he ever will.
Trump’s comments on Wednesday came less than 24 hours after Elon Musk publicly supported the president’s call to place Washington, D.C. under federal control, citing surging crime. The proposal followed the brutal assault of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer who had served under Musk during his time in the administration.
