Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s complicated relationship is one for the books. The two started as friends, momentarily became foes and got back to being friends again – all in quick succession. Throughout the year, Trump and Elon were embroiled in a very public feud and a very bitter one at that.
The two had a rather turbulent and very public fallout this year, but during the latter half of the year, Elon Musk became a regular attendee at almost all of Donald Trump’s events.
In November, when Trump hosted Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, guess who was on the esteemed guest list – Elon Musk, of course. A video of Trump acknowledging Musk’s presence at the party in the East Room dinner went crazy viral.
President Trump lovingly taps Elon Musk at the White House dinner tonight.
It’s the little things I notice.
Tesla pic.twitter.com/jamQ10w9mf
— Peter B (@realpeteyb123) November 19, 2025
Trump broke his silence on his highly publicized feud with Musk in October this year. He went on to call his rift with Elon a “bad spell.” On the sidelines of his Asia tour, Trump touched upon his rift with Musk, stating that he has always liked Elon.
“Elon’s a nice guy. He’s a very capable guy.” Donald Trump maintained throughout the conversation that he has “always liked” Elon. Trump said, “I like Elon, I’ve always liked him,” these were Trump’s words.
Trump went on to call his little fight with Elon a “bad spell.” The President added, “He had a bad spell, he had a bad period. He had a bad moment. It was a stupid moment in his life, very stupid. I’m sure he’d tell you that. But I like Elon, and I suspect I always will.”
Trump on Elon Musk: “He had a bad spell. He had a bad period. He had a bad moment. It was a stupid moment in his life. Very stupid. But I like Elon and I suspect I’ll always like him.” pic.twitter.com/LrNn52U2mk
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 27, 2025
The icebreaker moment for Trump and Musk was when the two were pictured together for the first time in months during Charlie Kirk’s memorial service in Glendale, Arizona, in September. Not only were the two seated side by side, but they even shook hands.
Lip reader Nicola Hickling had even decoded Trump and Musk’s body language at the event and had told The Irish Star: “Trump then leaned in and said, ‘I think we should stop this and say something now.” After that, “Donald turned to Dana and said, ‘Did you know about this?’”
The sour patch, so to speak, in Trump and Musk’s relationship was when Elon started leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). For the longest time, Musk had Trump’s backing until he fired a large number of federal employees and went on to slash budgets of multiple departments and he did all this while citing cost-cutting as a major reason for the move.
When the Trump administration decided to let go of Musk, it led to a very public and a very bitter rift between the two. What followed was an online war of words. The friction continued and worsened after Elon Musk dropped a bombshell about Trump’s mention in the Epstein Files.
The Tesla CEO claimed in one his X posts that Trump’s name “is in the Epstein files.” He further claimed, “That is the real reason they have not been made public.” Post his big fight with ex-best bud Donald Trump, Elon Musk even announced a new political party this year as a clapback to Trump.
The so-called war between Donald Trump and Elon Musk ended with the US President calling Musk “80 percent super-genius” and leaving the remaining 20% to his problems.
