Politics
Elon Musk Deletes Controversial X Post Made During Clash With Trump
Tech billionaire Elon Musk had deleted a controversial X post in which he accused President Donald Trump of being on the “Epstein list” nearly two days after it went live.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Musk posted to his 200+ million followers on Thursday. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
Musk offered no evidence in his post but doubled down minutes later. “Mark this post for the future,” he wrote. “The truth will come out.” In another follow-up post, the SpaceX, X and Tesla chief called for President Trump t0 be impeached.
After taking a slight step back on Friday by signaling that he is open to reconciling his differences with the administration, Musk snapped back at calls for a formal apology by doubling down on the baseball accusation. “I will apologize profusely as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files,” Musk wrote in a quickly-deleted X post Friday.
By Saturday morning, it appeared as though Musk was calming down, as the former DOGE leader deleted the allegation. He also deleted all negative references and attacks directed at President Trump and his allies in a sign that the heated feud had calmed down.
The step-back follows a week of intense funding with the White House and proponents of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” a massive spending package that will more than double the federal government’s capacity for deportations, make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent and drastically reform welfare. Musk has argued that the bill does not do enough to reduce the deficit while arguing that it does not codify cuts recommended by his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, which is still ongoing following Musk’s departure from the White House.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and others have pushed back on Musk’s assertions, noting that it cuts $1.6 trillion in mandatory spending and allows for DOGE cuts to be codified in reconciliation. Big Beautiful Bill proponents have also asserted that an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office is inaccurate, as the left-leaning body considers tax cuts as adding to deficit spending.
Despite this, Musk took direct aim at the White House on Wednesday by referring to the bill as a “disgusting abomination” that does little to reduce the deficit. He then proceeded to make a number of antagonistic posts directed towards the president, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and others by pulling up old posts about the deficit.
Tensions boiled over on Thursday, when President Trump responded to Musk’s antagonism by claiming that the tech billionaire’s frustrations stem from the discontinuation of electric vehicle credits issued by former President Joe Biden. At that point, Musk erupted into a multi-post tirade in which he accused the president of being a pedophile and called for his impeachment.
While speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Friday evening, President Trump answered a number of questions about the spat and his relationship with Musk. When asked whether he would consider cancelling the U.S. government’s numerous contracts with the tech entrepreneur’s companies, the president indicated that anything is on the table, but only if it was “fair” both to the American people and Musk.
Trump also stated that he is not particularly focused on the feud as he works to negotiate peace agreements in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as high-stakes trade negotiations with China and other trading partners.
“Obviously, I’ve been so busy working on China, working on Russia, working on Iran, working on so many — I’m not thinking about Elon,” the president told reporters. “You know, I just wish him well.”
