'Want Elon to thrive like never before': Trump's U-turn over threats to Musk
Earlier this month, Trump that DOGE could be used against the Tesla CEO. It must be mentioned that Musk had helped in setting up the cost-cutting agency.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday made a U-turn and refuted reports that he intends to "destroy" Elon Musk's companies, saying he wants the Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to "thrive like never before". In a post on 'Truth Social', Trump said he wants all businesses to thrive, as it would eventually benefit the country.
"Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon’s companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so!" Trump said. "I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before! The better they do, the better the USA does, and that’s good for all of us. We are setting records every day, and I want to keep it that way!"
Things had started falling out between Trump and Musk after the SpaceX founder criticised the US President's 'big and beautiful bill', which proposed cuts to healthcare and food programmes. Criticising the bill, the tech entrepreneur had said that it would end millions of jobs in the US and cause more harm than good.
"Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future," Musk had posted on 'X' (formerly known as Twitter) in June this year.
Later, Musk - who had immensely helped Trump during the 2024 US presidential elections - had further said that he may float a new political party, which truly "cares about the people". Musk had even claimed that Trump's name was in the Epstein files.
Amidst this ongoing tussle with Musk, Trump had suggested earlier this month that DOGE could be used against the Tesla CEO. It must be mentioned that Musk had helped in setting up the cost-cutting agency.
"Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa," Trump had posted on Truth Social. "No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!"
Later, Musk had taken a jibe at the US President and posted on 'X': "I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now."
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