Elon Musk has “lost his mind”, President Donald Trump said on Friday after a bitter falling-out between the world's richest person and the world's most powerful man.
Mr Trump told ABC News in a phone call that he was “not particularly interested” in talking to Mr Musk following Thursday's break-up. “You mean the man who has lost his mind?” ABC quoted Mr Trump as saying.
An extraordinary and public meltdown in the Trump-Musk relationship played out on social media over several hours, with a dispute over the US President's tax bill quickly escalating into a personal exchange during which Mr Musk appeared to call for Mr Trump's impeachment.
It was the collapse of a close relationship that deepened last year, when Mr Musk put hundreds of millions of dollars into the Republican's presidential campaign. The technology tycoon was invited into the inner White House to gut parts of the federal workforce through the “Department of Government Efficiency”.
Reports had suggested the two would speak by phone on Friday in a bid to patch up the damaging public row, but the White House scotched that speculation. “The President does not intend to speak to Musk today,” a senior White House official told AFP.
ABC said Mr Trump seemed “bummed” about the collapse of the relationship, and in a telling symbol, an official told the network that the President is considering selling or giving away a Tesla he had bought to show support for Mr Musk amid protests against the company.
A break-up in the billionaire "bromance" had appeared to be on the cards since Tuesday, after Mr Musk said the Republican President's signature “big, beautiful” tax bill was a “disgusting abomination” that would blow up the national debt. The row exploded on Thursday when Mr Trump said he was “very disappointed” in Mr Musk and threatened to end his government contracts.
Mr Musk even posted, without providing proof, that Mr Trump was referred to in government documents on the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He also approvingly retweeted a post that said Mr Trump should be impeached and Vice President JD Vance sworn in as US leader.
Tesla stock dropped by about 14 per cent on Thursday but recovered some losses on Friday.
