Sen. Mike Lee broke his silence on the feud between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk on Thursday, making clear the Utah senator is not ready to pick sides.
“But ... I really like both of them,” Lee said in a post on X, attaching a photo of both Trump and Musk.
Lee has positioned himself as one of Trump‘s most vocal supporters in Congress, which has allowed him to wield strong influence in the Senate. But the senator has also closely aligned himself with Musk, often reposting the Tesla CEO and boosting his comments.
In fact, Lee had reposted several of Musk’s initial criticisms about Trump’s massive tax package, arguing it does not go far enough to cut government spending.
But tensions began escalating on Thursday afternoon after Trump responded to Musk’s attacks, prompting the pair to exchange barbs on social media.
After meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House on Thursday, Trump took questions from reporters and weighed in publicly for the first time about the developing situation with Musk, who is a fierce critic of the president’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
Musk departed the White House last week, leaving his post as a special government employee leading the Department of Government Efficiency. He and Trump shared pleasantries in the Oval Office to mark his exit from the administration and the president said Musk would “always” be helping out.
However, over the last several days, their relationship has soured.
Musk ramped up his criticism of the Trump-backed spending package that cleared the House last month and is awaiting changes in the Senate. He slammed it as a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled” bill that is a “disgusting abomination.”
Musk said the lawmakers who voted it through should know they did wrong and later called for the bill’s supporters to be “fired” come the November 2026 midterm elections.
Trump was unusually quiet online about the fallout on Wednesday, but addressed the deteriorating relationship with reporters on Thursday, saying he was “surprised” and “disappointed.”
“He knew every aspect of this bill. He knew it better than almost anybody, and he never had a problem until right after he left,” Trump said of Musk.
The president also suggested Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla, took issue with the package’s cuts to electric vehicle credits.
“Elon is upset because we took the EV mandate, and you know, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles,” Trump said. “And you know, they’re having a hard time, the electric vehicles, and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy.”
Trump argued Musk knew “from the beginning” that EV credits would be cut.
Musk shot back at Trump in near real time with a post on X, the social platform he owns.
“Whatever,” Musk said. “Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.”
Musk followed up by saying he was the one who helped elect Trump, after he poured millions of dollars into the 2024 campaign. “Such ingratitude,” he wrote on X.
Trump then wrote on Truth Social, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Musk then made an accusation related to financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was in prison on sex trafficking charges and reportedly died by suicide.
“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 alleged on X.
Will Musk’s opposition make a difference?
It’s still unknown if Musk’s criticism of the reconciliation package will sway any Republican senators, particularly after his threat to primary lawmakers.
Trump’s comments Thursday show the tech billionaire’s remarks haven’t changed the president’s support for the bill.