NYT journalist Maggie Haberman says Trump is trying hard to avoid public feud with Elon Musk amid rift

WASHINGTON, DC: It looks like Donald Trump is trying to keep things civil with his former "first buddy" Elon Musk. 

While Musk is taking not-so-subtle jabs at Trump’s prized new legislation, the president is doing everything he can to avoid getting into a very public cage match with the tech billionaire.

That’s according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who made the claim during a Wednesday, May 28, appearance on CNN with Jake Tapper. The drama reportedly centers around Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" that rolls back food assistance, slashes Medicaid, and shores up his 2017 tax cuts, RawStory reported.

The bill only narrowly squeaked through the House earlier this month and now faces a rocky road in the Senate, where Republicans are already threatening rewrites. 

Musk, who was leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is publicly distancing himself from the whole thing after stepping down from his role. 

Elon Musk not too impressed with Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'

Jake Tapper kicked things off by rolling a clip from 'CBS Sunday Morning', where Elon Musk revealed his true feelings about Donald Trump’s spending package.

“I was like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said. “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful. But I don't know if it can be both.”

Tapper wanted to know how his comments landed. “So Trump was asked about this today,” Tapper told Haberman. “He deflected, trying to blame Democrats for the bill, which is interesting. How do you think that comment from Musk is really actually going over with Trump?”

“I don't think it's thrilling Trump. I also don't think it's entirely surprising to Trump,” Haberman responded. “I think that Musk has been sort of trying to cleave some separation with the White House and his own work right now.”

Still, Haberman noted that the cold shoulder might not mean much unless it actually messes with the bill’s trajectory. “I also don't know how much effect it is going to have. I think that if it ends up having a real material impact on the bill, then I think Trump will care a lot. But it was — as you say, he dodged it and clearly does not want to be in some kind of a public fight with Musk.”

Donald Trump and Elon Musk's complicated relationship

When Jake Tapper pressed for more intel on where the Trump-Musk bromance currently stands, Haberman admitted it’s definitely complicated. 

“I think they still deal with each other,” she said. “I think Musk — look, Musk was in that meeting with the South African president. Musk is still around. He is still, you know, allied with some people in the Trump administration, and he still has a lot of money,” she said. 

“And so all of that is going to mean he will be around going forward. Just what quantities remain to be seen," she added.

Musk made his exit from his formal government post official.

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending," he announced on X. "The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

Elon Musk once vowed to stay in the fight

Just weeks earlier, Elon Musk was all in on the government gig. In April, he reassured nervous Tesla investors that his White House side hustle wouldn’t get in the way of the day job.

He said he planned to spend “a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so, as long as it is useful.” 

At the time, Musk said he had to stick with DOGE to prevent waste and fraud from creeping back in.

“I’ll have to continue doing it,” he said on a Tesla earnings call. “I think we have the remainder of the President’s term just to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back, which it’ll do if it has the chance.”

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