Donald Trump isn’t hiding how complicated his relationship with Elon Musk has become. The president recently called the Tesla boss “80% super-genius” and “20% problems” while reflecting on their messy split and what could come next.
The two were once close allies, with Musk even serving in Trump’s administration. But things unraveled earlier this summer after Musk slammed Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” calling it “a disgusting abomination” in a June post. Days later, Musk dropped an explosive claim on his platform X, writing that Trump “is in the Epstein files” before quickly deleting it. The damage, though, was done.
Trump opened up about the fallout during an interview on The Scott Jennings Show that aired Wednesday. He said Musk “got off the reservation incorrectly, and… he wished he didn’t do it.” Still, Trump made it clear he hasn’t written Musk off completely. “He’s a good person,” Trump said. “He’s got 80% super-genius, and then 20% he’s got some problems. When he works out the 20% he’ll be great”, reported Business Insider.
The president stressed that despite “some difficulties,” he still likes Musk. “I always liked him, I like him now,” he told Jennings.
Jennings pressed Trump on whether the two had been in touch or if Musk could find his way back into the Republican fold. Trump avoided confirming any recent contact but said he doesn’t see Musk turning to Democrats.
“I don’t think he has a choice. So what’s he going to do, he’s gonna go with the radical left lunatics? They’re lunatics. I don’t think he has a choice. He’s a man of common sense, he’s a good man.” Jennings later posted on X that he’d love to see Trump and Musk “get the band back together soon.”
This softer tone marks a shift from Trump’s comments in June, when he told NBC that his relationship with Musk was likely finished. At the time, he also warned Musk—who gave more than $250 million to Trump’s presidential campaign—not to fund Democrats opposing Republicans who backed his bill. “He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” Trump said then.
Musk, meanwhile, has teased the idea of breaking away from both parties. On July 4, he posted that if Trump’s “insane spending bill” passed, he’d launch a new political movement to fight what he called the “Democrat-Republican uniparty.”
He let his followers on X pick the name, and the majority chose the America Party. “You want a new political party and you shall have it!” Musk declared. “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
Since then, though, Musk has gone quiet about the project. Reports last month suggested he may have shelved the America Party idea and could instead support JD Vance if the senator makes a White House run in 2028.
For now, Trump seems to be leaving the door open for Musk, mixing criticism with praise and framing him as someone too smart to stay away from the GOP for long.