In his own telling, Trump is not wasting any time thinking about the man who, one week ago, was receiving a giant golden key in the Oval Office and has since lobbed insults toward its occupant. The president told CNN’s Dana Bash in a brief phone call Friday morning he was “not even thinking about Elon” and wouldn’t be speaking to Musk “for a while.”
Talking to reporters on Air Force One Friday night, Trump said he would “take a look at” canceling some of Musk’s government contracts, a possibility he had floated on Truth Social in the height of their feud, and asserted the country would be fine without them.
“The US can survive without almost anybody – except me,” he said, adding that he was joking on the latter point.
“I don’t want to comment on his drug use. I don’t know – I don’t know what his status is,” he said on Air Force One, adding that New York Times reporting on the matter “sounded very unfair.”
The Times reported that Musk was “using drugs far more intensely than previously known,” as he rose to prominence in Trump’s inner circle in 2024, including “using ketamine often, sometimes daily, and mixing it with other drugs,” according to people familiar. In a 2024 interview with Don Lemon, Musk acknowledged he took “a small amount” of ketamine to treat negative moods, under a prescription, but that a heavy workload prevented him from using too much. Neither Musk nor his lawyer responded to the Times’ request for comment about his drug use. CNN also reached out to his representative about the allegations at the time.
Last week, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, whose wife Katie Miller left a job with the Department of Government Efficiency to work for Musk, told CNN he had no concerns over the New York Times report that Musk used drugs more extensively than previously known.
In the day since the Trump-Musk feud erupted on their respective social media platforms, Trump’s aides said the president has been focused on advancing that supersized bill that started the whole thing, and has directed his team to follow suit.
Whether the president is successful in turning attention away from the ugly spat remains to be seen. The Justice Department’s announcement late Friday afternoon that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has returned to the US to face criminal counts began to shift the narrative.
Nor was it precisely clear what effect the wreckage of the Trump-Musk alliance would have on the president’s agenda bill being considered by Congress, on Musk’s businesses or on the direction of the Republican Party.
All seemed potentially caught in the undertow after the two men spent Thursday afternoon and evening lashing out at each other online.
A tipping point for Trump and his advisers, people familiar with what was happening behind the scenes said, was Musk’s linkage of the president to Jeffrey Epstein. Musk suggested the administration wasn’t releasing information about the convicted pedophile because it invokes Trump. (Musk cited no evidence and gave no detail how he would have gained access to unreleased files.) White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called his claims an “unfortunate episode” in a Thursday evening statement.
After that, any chance of reconciliation appeared to be scuttled.
Rep. Thomas Massie, who voted against the bill, told CNN that he thinks Musk’s opposition could fuel buyer’s remorse.
And Rep. Michael McCaul, who supported it, said he worries that a prolonged fight between Musk and Trump could become a distraction for getting Trump’s agenda passed, before going on to cite “very good intelligence” that the two men would soon settle their spat.
But Musk – who less than a month ago had said he’d spend “a lot less” on politics – has also threatened to put his substantial spending power behind efforts to remove from office Republicans who vote for the bill.
After spending more than $290 million to help elect Trump and Republicans last year, the future of Musk’s political spending now appears unknown. Funds Musk privately promised to groups associated with Trump are now in doubt.
One powerful Trump ally, Steve Bannon, suggested Trump use his power to go after Musk in multiple ways.
Bannon also suggested the Trump administration investigate Musk’s alleged drug use, and potentially suspend his security clearance.
Still, allies of both seemed to hold out hope the rupture would not be permanent, and that the two most dominant figures in current Republican politics might be able to patch things up.
“I’m not going to speak for either of them. I was with the president in the Oval Office yesterday afternoon as some of this unfolded. And I can just say he was disappointed. I mean, he said that himself. And I was, as well,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday.
“I believe in redemption,” Johnson went on. “I hope we can resolve it, get everybody together again. That’s really important for all of us.”
Credit: CNN
