What has the White House said in response to Musk's online clash with Trump?

Elon Musk made some pretty shocking allegations about President Donald Trump’s purported friendship with Jeffrey Epstein – and now the White House has officially responded.

Here is a rundown of the very public friendship fallout and those Epstein allegations.

What did Musk say?

The billionaire and former DOGE lead took to his platform X, where he dropped a bombshell claim, accusing Trump of withholding Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation files, as Trump himself was mentioned in them.

“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk claimed.

He added, “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”

How has the White House responded?

After this massive accusation, the White House has since replied, as press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN on Thursday night.

“This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ because it does not include the policies he wanted,” she said in a statement.

“The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.”

Some context…

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, and photo by Florida Department of Law Enforcement via Getty Images

In 2019, Epstein was charged with sex trafficking, he pleaded not guilty and later died by suicide in a New York prison.

Musk’s claim has put the president and disgraced financier's old friendship from the 90s and early 00s back in the spotlight.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy”, Trump told New York magazine in 2002.

“He’s a lot of fun to be with,” he added. “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Although the friendship reportedly ended in 2004 when the two fell out over some real estate, as per The Washington Post.

“Well I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him. I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach,” Trump said in 2019, after Epstein was arrested.

“I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn’t a fan. I was not—yeah, a long time ago, I’d say maybe 15 years. I was not a fan of his. That I can tell you. I was not a fan of his.”

(Trump has not been found to be associated or implicated in Epstein’s alleged crimes).

Why are Musk and Trump fighting?

The almighty fallout between Musk and the president came about over their disagreement on Trump’s “big beautiful bill” which includes extending the 2017 tax cuts Trump signed, further spending at the U.S.-Mexico border and oil drilling as well as massive changes to the social safety net in the United States.

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO believes the bill isn’t so “beautiful” as he reckons it will increase the federal budget deficit, and undermine all the cost-cutting measures the Department of Government Efficiency has enacted since it was formed earlier this year when Trump came into office.

In fact, just days ago, Musk blasted the bill on X: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

Elsewhere, Elon Musk slams Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill’ and people can’t believe they're agreeing with him, and Leavitt responds as Elon Musk slams 'pork-filled spending bill'.

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