WASHINGTON (AP) — There may be signs an emerging truce in the bitter clash between President Trump and Elon Musk.
The White House has reportedly scheduled a call between the two on Friday.
The pair spent Thursday in a public feud about the President’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ the legislation now in the Senate that incorporates his presidential agenda, from tax cuts to immigration enforcement.
It began with Musk complaining about the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative agenda, which the president at first took in stride.
Eventually Trump let slip that he was disappointed in his former adviser, prompting Musk to unleash a flood of insults and taunts.
On and on it went, as liberals savored the spectacle of their most despised political opponents clawing at each other’s digital throats and conservatives reeled at the prospect of having to pick sides. Some conservatives tried to position themselves as a voice of reason.
The question now is whether Trump and Musk find some way to step back from a battle that is tearing apart one of the most consequential relationships in modern American politics.
Friday’s phone could be the first steps in that could come in truce between the world’s most powerful man and its wealthiest.
At stake are the future of Musk’s companies, including electric automaker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX; government programs that rely on the billionaire entrepreneur’s technology; legislation for advancing tax cuts and Trump’s other priorities in Congress; Republican chances in next year’s midterm elections; and an entire political ecosystem that has orbited around Trump and Musk’s deteriorating partnership.