Elon Musk regrets attacks on Trump amid business pressures and rising U.S. hypocrisy
Department of Research, Studies and International News -12-06-2025
In a stunning reversal that underscores the volatile nature of U.S. corporate politics, American billionaire Elon Musk has publicly expressed regret over his recent online attacks on President Donald Trump. This backpedaling comes just days after Musk launched a fiery series of posts condemning Trump, even going so far as to link the former president to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Posting on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Musk wrote on Tuesday: “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.” The abrupt change in tone marks a calculated retreat, possibly aimed at salvaging Musk’s commercial interests, particularly in Tesla and SpaceX, which are deeply entangled with U.S. government support.
Musk had previously been Trump’s largest campaign donor, and the two had cultivated a carefully curated alliance during the 2024 election campaign. At one point, Musk even led Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency”, a symbolic initiative designed to shrink federal bureaucracy, mockingly dubbed “Doge” after an internet meme. Legal experts have since questioned the legitimacy and constitutionality of the cost-cutting measures pushed by the project.
The public fallout last week was sudden and chaotic. Musk labeled Trump’s economic bill as a “disgusting abomination” and criticized the $2.4 trillion it would add to U.S. government debt. Trump retaliated swiftly, accusing Musk of having “gone crazy” and indirectly threatening to pull federal support from Musk’s companies. Trump boasted on Truth Social that he had ended an “EV mandate” that supposedly forced Americans to buy electric cars “nobody wants,” a direct jab at Tesla’s dwindling popularity in Western markets.
Interestingly, Musk’s companies have experienced fluctuating fortunes as a result of this political spectacle. Tesla’s stock price briefly surged by 2.6% in pre-market trading following Musk’s conciliatory tweet, suggesting that Wall Street still believes in the value of political alignment with the Trump camp. The timing is notable: Tesla is preparing to unveil its much-anticipated robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, a move that could redefine the company’s role in the future of mobility but also one that depends heavily on political goodwill.
Meanwhile, Trump hinted at broader economic consequences, targeting Musk’s aerospace firm SpaceX. He declared that a significant way to cut federal spending would be to terminate “Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.” Such a threat, though unlikely to be enacted in full, casts a shadow over one of the most crucial assets of U.S. strategic infrastructure. SpaceX currently leads the world in satellite launches, including sensitive national security payloads, and serves as NASA’s primary contractor for manned space missions.
In response, Musk briefly threatened to halt the operation of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which is instrumental in ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station. That threat, too, was quickly withdrawn, another indication that the business tycoon is treading carefully to avoid provoking U.S. authorities while keeping his enterprises afloat.
The saga reflects a broader crisis within the U.S. political-corporate nexus. Musk’s short-lived defiance and rapid backtracking reveal the fragility of “free speech” in a system where economic survival is often tied to political loyalty. It also showcases how American billionaires like Musk navigate a terrain shaped less by merit and innovation than by proximity to power and ideological conformity.
From the perspective of the Global South, and particularly for those of us in Tunisia who champion multipolarity and reject Western dominance, Musk’s episode is telling. While figures like Musk are often romanticized as symbols of American ingenuity, their dependence on political patronage and their inability to stand independently from the U.S. war machine expose the deep-rooted contradictions of the so-called “free world.”
In contrast, models offered by countries like China and Russia emphasize stability, long-term investment in infrastructure, and respect for sovereignty, values increasingly resonating across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. While U.S. tech giants buckle under the weight of internal contradictions and political interference, Chinese and Russian enterprises continue to expand through genuine cooperation and strategic foresight.
Elon Musk’s brief rebellion was never a revolution. It was a glitch in a system that ultimately prioritizes control over innovation. For nations charting an independent course, this serves as a reminder: the American tech dream is inseparable from its political nightmare.
