Topline
President Donald Trump said he was blindsided by Elon Musk’s criticism of his policy bill Thursday, commenting on the feud for the first time moments after Musk made his most pointed attack on Trump himself over the legislation Musk has previously mostly blamed Republican lawmakers for.
Key Facts
Trump told reporters Thursday in an Oval Office press conference with the German chancellor that Musk “hasn’t said anything about me that’s bad” and that he’d “rather have him criticize me than the bill,” appearing not to have seen Musk’s tweet moments earlier calling out Trump for flip-flopping his stance on raising the federal debt limit.
Trump also suggested Musk is suffering from what he refers to as “Trump derangement syndrome,” which he describes as people turning on the president after they leave his administration.
Musk reposted a 2013 tweet from Trump that said he was in disbelief and “embarrassed” Republicans were extending the debt ceiling, captioning the repost “wise words.”
Trump on Wednesday said the debt limit should be “entirely scrapped” as a provision of his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which would raise the debt ceiling ahead of its expected expiration date in August.
Musk—who officially left his White House role Friday—has fired off dozens of tweets this week attacking Trump’s policy bill over the amount it’s expected to add to the federal debt.
Trump commented on the disagreement with his one-time ally for the first time Thursday, suggesting Musk disagrees with the legislation because he is “upset” the electric vehicle mandate was removed.
This is a developing story and will be updated.