President Donald Trump said Friday that he has little appetite for reconciling with Elon Musk any time soon, signaling he’s eager to move on to other topics following their extraordinary public blow-up.
“I’m not really interested in that,” Trump told reporters as he arrived in New Jersey, where he’s slated to spend the weekend at one of his properties. “I’m really interested in the country and solving problems.”
The remarks represented the president’s latest insistence that he’s gotten over the high-profile breakup with Musk, even as he continues to talk about him. Trump on Thursday and earlier Friday conducted interviews with several media outlets — including POLITICO — to emphasize that he was shifting to other concerns.
“I’m not thinking about Elon,” Trump said. “I just wish him well.”
The high-volume conflict between Trump and Musk has consumed Washington for two days, alarming allies who have since encouraged the two to call a truce and generating anxiety on Capitol Hill, where Republicans are still trying to push through their top legislative priority.
Trump later Friday downplayed the rift, touting support within the GOP for the megabill and brushing off questions about the accusations he earlier hurled at Musk — including that the billionaire had “a problem.”
“I don’t want to talk about the problems,” Trump said, pivoting quickly to talk up the state of the economy.
Still, pressed on the matter, Trump acknowledged that he’s still considering eliminating lucrative federal contracts with companies run by Musk — a move that he first floated on Thursday in response to the billionaire’s criticism of Trump and the GOP’s megabill.
“We’ll take a look at everything,” Trump said of the contracts that the government maintains with companies like Musk’s SpaceX. “It’s a lot of money, it’s a lot of subsidy.”
Despite SpaceX’s central place in the U.S.’s defense and space programs, Trump said that the country “can survive” without the contracts that it has awarded to the Musk-run company.
As for the ongoing effort by Trump and Musk allies to bring the two back together, the president acknowledged that they remained ongoing — but at least for now, weren’t gaining much traction.