NAIROBI, Kenya – Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and former advisor to Donald Trump, has expressed regret over recent remarks he made about the U.S. president, following a dramatic public fallout between the two last week.
“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” Musk wrote Wednesday on his social media platform, X.
I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.
His backpedaling comes just days after Trump issued a veiled threat, warning the tech billionaire of “serious consequences” if he moved to oppose Republican lawmakers who support a contentious federal spending bill currently before Congress.
The public rift between Musk and Trump played out in real time on social media last Thursday, captivating millions of followers.
The dispute was sparked by Musk’s harsh critique of the so-called “big, beautiful” spending bill — a cornerstone of Trump’s economic agenda.
Some Republican lawmakers opposed to the legislation had urged Musk to bankroll primary challenges against GOP members who back the bill, a move that reportedly infuriated the former president.
“He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” Trump told NBC News on Saturday, describing Musk’s behavior as “disrespectful,” but stopped short of clarifying what those consequences might entail.
The incident underscores rising tensions within conservative circles, where disagreements over fiscal policy are beginning to fracture previously strong alliances.
Musk, one of the Republican Party’s biggest donors during the 2024 election, has increasingly used his platform to influence political discourse — a role that now appears to be drawing sharper scrutiny.
