President Donald Trump has seen Elon Musk’s 3 a.m. apology — and he appreciates it.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said as much during Wednesday’s briefing, confirming in a brief response to a reporter’s question that the Tesla CEO’s message had been received.
“The president acknowledged the statement that Elon put out this morning,” Leavitt said. “He is appreciative of it.”
She also confirmed that the administration has not moved forward with Trump’s threat to cut off Musk’s government contracts, a big part of the revenue streams fueling his business empire.
Trending
The pair have been on the outs since Musk parted ways with the White House last month. He angered the White House with a series of blistering criticisms of the “one big, beautiful bill” championed by Trump, which led the president to respond in stunning fashion during an Oval Office event last week.
“Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany. “I don’t know that we will anymore.”
“I’m very disappointed in Elon,” Trump added.
I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025
Musk then responded in a series of posts on his social media platform X. The billionaire suggested he was responsible for Trump’s election win in 2024 and even accused Trump of being “in the Epstein files,” claiming that his involvement with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is the reason his administration was slow-walking the release of the investigative file.
Early Wednesday morning though, Musk extended an apology.
“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” Musk posted at 3 a.m. ET, after deleting his post about the “Epstein files.”
In a call with the New York Post on Tuesday morning, Trump said he “thought it was very nice” that Musk issued an apology, but wouldn’t confirm if he was ready to leave the drama in the past.
The New York Times also reported that Musk’s post came after a private conversation Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, to discuss how to call a truce. Musk deleted his post about the Epstein files following the meeting.
—
Amelia Benavides-Colón is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
Author
