Trump’s Chief of Staff Weighs in on President’s Feud with Elon Musk – Newsweek
Published
Jul 09, 2025 at 07:09 PM EDT
updated
Jul 09, 2025 at 07:10 PM EDT
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told the New York Post that the relationship between President Donald Trump and billionaire CEO Elon Musk had a “very troublesome ending,” shedding light on the internal tensions that have arisen from the public feud.
Trump and Musk’s relationship rapidly deteriorated after Musk exited the Trump administration in late May after spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for the first four months of Trump’s second term.
Strife between the two escalated when Musk began railing against the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, describing it as an “outrageous” and “pork-filled” spending package that would balloon the federal deficit.
Trump retaliated by threatening to cut off government subsidies to Musk’s companies, while the president’s allies started pushing for Musk’s citizenship to be revoked and for him to be deported. Musk softened his rhetoric about his former boss afterward, but quickly resumed criticizing him over the “big, beautiful bill.”
Musk last week launched the “America Party” to promote his political agenda, to which Trump responded by calling Musk a “train wreck” on social media. The SpaceX CEO has also said that Trump was named in the Jeffrey Epstein files. There is no evidence supporting his claim.
In a lengthy sit-down interview with Miranda Devine on Pod Force One, Wiles said, “The president was very, very kind to him and Elon had so much to offer us. He knew things we didn’t know. He knew people and technologies that we didn’t know. It was a great thing when it was a great thing and had a very, I think, a very troublesome ending.”
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Asked about the split between Trump and Musk, Wiles replied: “I don’t know; I don’t understand it.”
She continued: “I enjoyed working with Elon. I think he is a fascinating person and sees the world differently, and I think that’s probably what the president saw, too. Just a little bit different than the average Joe. But it certainly came to not a good ending.”
Musk wrote on X over the weekend: “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! 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.”
Asked about the new political party on Tuesday, Trump told reporters: “I think it’ll help us. It’ll probably help. Third parties have always been good for me. I don’t know about Republicans, but for me …”
Former White House chief strategist and frequent Musk critic Steve Bannon wrote on X: “The foul, the buffoon. Elmo the Mook, formerly known as Elon Musk… No, brother, you’re not an American. You’re a South African.”
Legal experts previously told Newsweek that Musk’s new political party is unlikely to see substantial success.
As a foreign-born U.S. citizen, Musk also isn’t eligible to run for president. But he can support third-party candidates who can put themselves on the ballot in every state if they have enough signatures to support their bid. Third-party candidates almost never break through significantly, but they could siphon votes away from other major-party candidates.
Update 7/9/25, 8:27 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and context.
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