Some Republicans are holding out hope that President Trump and Elon Musk will mend fences after Thursday’s blistering breakup of the bromance, which captivated Washington and left the get together’s “big, beautiful bill” hanging within the steadiness.
The eager for concord comes amid a Republican dash on Capitol Hill to finalize the Trump megabill — which Musk trashed — and because the get together appears to be like forward to the 2026 midterm elections, which the billionaire is threatening to shake up by suggesting he could go after lawmakers who help the bundle.
“I was with the president in the Oval Office yesterday afternoon as some of this was unfolding, and I can tell you, as he said in his own words, he was just, he was disappointed, and I was surprised by Elon’s sudden opposition,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) instructed reporters on Friday when requested if Trump has any curiosity in mending fences.
“I hope they reconcile,” he added. “I believe in redemption. That’s part of my worldview, and I think it’s good for the party and the country if all that’s worked out.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — a loyal Trump ally who additionally chairs the Home’s Subcommittee on Delivering Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), named after Musk’s brainchild — stated the 2 ought to bury the hatchet in non-public slightly than on public channels.
“I don’t think lashing out on the internet is the way to handle any kind of disagreement, especially when you have each other’s cell phones. So I hope this gets worked out,” Greene stated. “But I will tell you right now that people are going to be focused on making sure that we get the agenda that we voted for, and that’s President Trump’s agenda.”
The optimism isn’t restricted to the Home: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) known as on his 70-year marriage to search out recommendation for the 2.
“I just heard Barbara Grassley say this disagreement and arguments btwn musk and Trump must end I know she loves both musk and Pres Trump. I’d advise u to follow her advice,” he wrote on X.
The simmering tensions between Trump and Musk blew up on Thursday, solidifying the break up between the world’s strongest man and the richest particular person on the planet. The back-and-forth started concerning the sprawling bundle — with Musk calling it “a disgusting abomination” and Trump defending it — earlier than spiraling into private assaults, headlined by Musk alleging Trump is within the Epstein information and the president calling the billionaire “crazy.”
“Elon and I had a great relationship; I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump stated within the Oval Workplace Thursday.
The blowup sapped Musk of a lot of his clout amongst Republicans on Capitol Hill, with a number of GOP lawmakers siding with the president over the billionaire.
“I’ve had a lot of love and respect for you for what you’ve done for this country over the last several months, but you’ve lost your damn mind,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), a detailed Trump ally, instructed reporters of Musk. “You’ve lost your mind. Enough is enough, stop this. I don’t think it’s healthy.”
As of now, it doesn’t seem that the president is serious about smoothing issues over.
After experiences surfaced in a single day of a possible cellphone name between Trump and Musk, the president instructed ABC Information that he was “not particularly” serious about speaking to the previous particular authorities worker, whom he known as “the man who has lost his mind.”
“I won’t be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well,” Trump added to CNN.
Whereas officers near the White Home didn’t dismiss the thought of a dialog between the 2 sooner or later, aides indicated this week that they needed to show the web page on the drama and stay squarely centered on getting the megabill by way of Congress.
Musk, for his half, opened the door to some kind of reconciliation: After Invoice Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Sq. and an ally of each Trump and Musk, urged the pair on X to “make peace for the benefit of our great country,” including “We are much stronger together than apart,” Musk responded: “You’re not wrong.”
Some Trump allies, nevertheless, assume peace is feasible — and certain.
Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), who labored within the first Trump White Home and retains a detailed relationship with the president, stated “I do, very much,” when requested if there’s any likelihood of reconciling the connection between Trump and Musk.
He in contrast the scenario to a method utilized by the World Wrestling Leisure (WWE) — based by Vince McMahon and his spouse, Schooling Secretary Linda McMahon — of eliminating revered wrestlers solely to convey them again into the fold afterward, producing pleasure.
“He set up this entire company to create heroes within the entire country of adult wrestling, and then he would fire that person, he would get rid of them, and then he would bring them back, and what would happen when he would bring them back?” Miller requested. “When he would bring them back the WWE stock price would shoot through the roof and the rating would shoot through the roof because everyone knows that that’s where the excitement really is, is the reunification of these individuals.”
“So I do believe he’s gonna come back, I do believe we’re gonna sort this thing out,” he added. “I do believe that at the end of the day this was really a bunch of nothing, and that you have a president of the United States and now a private civilian who are disagreeing with each other.”