Musk Called Trump Privately on Monday Night

President Trump received a phone call from Elon Musk late on Monday night, which led to a public expression of regret from the billionaire early Wednesday for the attacks he had lodged against the president in their extraordinary public showdown last week, according to three people briefed on the call.

Musk’s outreach to Trump came after the tech entrepreneur spoke privately on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, about a path to a truce between the two men, according to two of the people. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussions.

The conversations paved the way for the strikingly chastened tone Musk struck in an X post early Wednesday, in which he wrote: “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”

Musk had spent several days signaling that he wanted to make up with the president after the two men engaged in a sharp series of personal attacks last Thursday that played out from the Oval Office and on social media.

What began as criticism by the tech billionaire of Trump’s signature domestic bill devolved into an exchange of insults that mounted throughout the day, as the president claimed he had not needed Musk’s help to get elected and Musk attempted to link Trump to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The day after Musk spoke with Ms. Wiles and Vance, he deleted his social media posts suggesting that the president’s name was in government files about Epstein.

It remains to be seen how Trump will handle the attempted rapprochement and whether the two men’s relationship can be restored.

In the wake of their showdown, Trump told advisers that he had no interest in talking to Musk, and was done with him, a sentiment he reiterated in interviews with reporters.

But behind the scenes, advisers from both camps worked to arrange a détente.

Both Musk and Trump have a lot at stake in the relationship, but it was Musk who appeared more eager to make amends. Trump threatened to cancel billions of dollars’ worth of contracts that Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, has with the federal government.

Musk is not without leverage, however. He is the biggest donor in Republican politics and had promised to give an additional $100 million to Trump’s outside groups ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. He also has extensive knowledge of the inner dynamics of the administration, and Trump has been keen to avoid a repeat of his first term, when former aides left on bad terms and went on to write books about their experiences.