Donald Trump says he’s not calling Elon Musk, and he doesn’t care if they ever speak again. On Friday morning around 7 a.m., during a phone interview with ABC News, the US President was asked about reports that he had a call lined up with Elon later in the day. Trump said: “You mean the man who has lost his mind?”
He followed up by adding he was “not particularly” interested in speaking to Elon. Trump added that Elon wants to talk to him, but he’s not interested in talking back.
According to ABC News, Trump’s comments came just hours after their public fight played out online, with both men using their own platforms to throw punches. The day before, Trump had criticized Elon inside the Oval Office. Elon came back swinging on X.
Their clash played out so publicly that White House aides tried to arrange a phone call to cool things down. But by the time Trump spoke Friday morning, those plans were dead. A White House official told Reuters that no call would be happening, even though another official had earlier said one was expected.
Trump-Elon fallout rattles base and Tesla stock
Tesla shares crashed over 14% by the close of trading on Thursday, erasing about $150 billion in market value—the biggest one-day drop in the company’s history. Friday morning saw a brief recovery, with shares climbing up to 5% in pre-market trading after early rumors that the two men might speak.
But once Trump shut that idea down on air, the bounce didn’t last.
Thursday’s social media brawl wasn’t the start—it was the explosion. Trump called Elon out. Elon fired back. And by Friday, they weren’t speaking. Trump told ABC News that the phone call everyone thought was happening wasn’t on his schedule. “He wants to talk to me, but I’m not ready to talk to him,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, author Ashlee Vance, who wrote Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future in 2015, weighed in on the public collapse of their partnership during a Friday segment on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Vance said he’s known Elon for over ten years and remembers a very different man. “When I got to know him, he was much shier. He grew up as a loner and an outcast,” he said.
Vance explained that Elon’s public personality today is nothing like how he acts behind closed doors. “He is not the caricature you see on X taking shots at people and making sometimes bad jokes.” But Vance wasn’t surprised the feud with Trump got this ugly. “Elon likes to have the last word and I think Trump is the same way,” he said.
When asked if the two could repair things, Vance didn’t sound too confident. “There will need to be some pretty big concessions in order for the pair to repair their relationship,” he said. But he did leave a small door open. “On the other hand, this was a relationship formed on both sides wanting to get something out of each other, so maybe if there is enough to gain, there is some kind of peace that can be reached.”
As of now, there’s no indication that either side is budging. Trump doesn’t seem interested in making peace. Elon hasn’t apologized or softened his stance. The fight that started in private is now out in the open, and both are treating it like a public battlefield.
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