Donald Trump has confirmed the status of his friendship with Elon Musk - here's where they're at

US president Donald Trump has confirmed the status of his friendship with billionaire Elon Musk.

It’s fair to say that Trump and Musk have had a fairly tumultuous relationship, with X/Twitter owner Musk going from “First Buddy” to Trump’s enemy within a matter of months.

After Musk backed Trump for president and helped him get elected (by his own admission), he was infamously given a job heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But, things started to unravel as the two big egos clashed over Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”.

Things came to a dramatic head when former ally Musk alleged in a social media post that Trump’s name is in the Epstein files, and that is the reason the administration is digging in its heels against releasing them despite promising they would.

Following some moments that appear to have helped defrost the ice between them, it seems the pair have been able to re-establish some sort of friendship again.

Speaking on Air Force One, Trump told reporters: “It’s good with Elon. I like Elon. I’ve always liked Elon, it’s good … Look, he’s a nice guy. And he’s a very capable guy. I’ve always liked him.

“He had a bad spell. He had a bad period. He had a bad moment. 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'll always like him.”

Someone asked: “Was the bad moment confirming to the world that Trump's in the Epstein Files that Trump now claims doesn't exist, by any chance?”

Another wrote: “What was Musk’s stupid moment? Paying for Trump to be elected? Slashing the government as DOGE?”

“He especially likes Elon's money,” argued one person.

Why not read…

• Musk wants more control over Tesla and $1 trillion in exchange for an 'enormous robot army'
• Elon Musk is leading a boycott against Netflix - here's why
• Donald Trump goes on Truth Social rant offering medical advice and everyone is saying the same thing

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings