Jun 12, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Trump was "amazed" that Musk had endorsed him

Jason Lalljee

Close up photos of Trump and Musk side by side — President Trump and Elon Musk have struck a conciliatory tone in the week since their social media brawl. Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI,ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump told reporters Thursday that he was "amazed" Elon Musk had endorsed him in the first place, given Trump's long-standing position on electric vehicles that would hurt Musk's company.

Why it matters: In the aftermath of Trump and Musk's fallout — which shifted from scorched-earth calls for impeachment to a more peaceful stalemate — the president and the former DOGE head have struck a conciliatory tone.

What they're saying: "Now I know why Elon doesn't like me so much," Trump said before backtracking and calling Musk's reaction to his EV mandate policy "honest."

"I used to say I was amazed that he's endorsing me because that can't be good for him, I'm abolishing the EV mandate," Trump said.
"[Musk] said 'as long as it's happening to everybody I'll be able to compete,' you would've thought from day one he would've been, 'you've got to make sure you don't do the EV mandate.'"

Zoom out: Trump moved Thursday to abolish California's vehicle emissions standards.

The rules would ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, mandate zero-emission trucks and phase out diesel trucks.
California has announced its plan to challenge the federal government's rollback of its policies in court. Governor Gavin Newsom called it an "unconstitutional attack."

Go deeper: Musk, Trump fallout is bad news for Tesla and EVs

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Trump was "amazed" that Musk had endorsed him

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