Donald Trump's 'status update' on Elon Musk: He had a stupid moment, but I suspect that I always will ....

Elon Musk’s relationship with Donald Trump seems to be easing. During a recent interaction with reporters lately, Trump said he has a "good" relationship despite Musk’s ‘stupid moment’ earlier this year.

“I like Elon, I've always liked him”, Trump said on board Air Force One as he traveled between Malaysia and Japan. He further added that he has spoken with Musk "on and off, a little bit". Musk and Trump – once close allies have had a tense relationship recently after the tech billionaire criticised the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” “He had a bad spell, he had a bad period. He had a bad moment,” Trump described the incident after the two had a fallout following the criticism. “It was a stupid moment in his life, very stupid. I'm sure he'd tell you that. But I like Elon, and I suspect I always will,” the US President said.

Timeline of Trump-Musk feud

Elon Musk emerged as a strong supporter of Trump during the 2024 election campaign. According to reports, he donated $288 million to the 2024 election. He was later appointed as Tech advisor to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - a special task force established to cut federal spending.

However, their relationship began to strain when the Trump administration introduced “One Big Beautiful Bill”. Musk lashed out at the bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination.” Taking to X, Musk wrote “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.”Trump responded to Musk’s criticism of the bill stating “I'm very disappointed with Elon.

I've helped him a lot. He knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem & he only developed the problem when he found out we're going to cut EV mandate”. Later, Musk posted a cryptic tweet in June implying Donald Trump might be named in the unreleased Epstein files. It was quickly dismissed by Trump allies as conspiratorial innuendo. Musk later deleted the tweet.The two were last seen together at right-wing activist Charlie Kirk's memorial service in September this year.