Following their acrimonious feud, entrepreneur Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump are reportedly in no mood to reconcile. A patch-up is nowhere in sight after Trump aides declared a cold war against the entrepreneur, who they plan to kick out of MAGA circles, according to a report.
The White House staff and Trump's close aides are actively pressuring people who have been allies to both to pick a side, according to the US-based website Rolling Stone. So much so that Trump's close aides, who were not happy with Elon's interference in the administration, are making calls to big donors and conservative luminaries urging them to choose sides in the bitter feud.
"We are taking away Elon’s friends," the report quoted a senior Trump administration official. "If he wants them back, he will need to kiss Donald Trump’s ass harder than he’s ever kissed anybody’s ass before in his entire life," he said, adding that it was still doubtful whether Musk "gets to come back from this".
Darrell Scott, a pastor from Ohio and an advisor to Trump for nearly a decade, vocally expressed his support for the US President. "Nobody even has to ask me; it’s no choice at all: I am Team Trump all the way. He is my friend and he’s my president," Scott added, calling Trump a "very gregarious person" who can switch to the "boss mode" when he needs to be.
"I don’t think Elon was able to deal with that … Now, he’s probably got a lot of people in his ear about this right now. All I’ve done since this all blew up on Thursday so far is send him a text, telling him: 'Be encouraged," Scott added.
The Rolling Stone report added that Trump is inundated with messages from all quarters, collaborators in the business, media, and political elite expressing loyalty.
This comes amid reports that Musk's standing with the Trump aides had been worsening for some time, more so after he bodychecked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The incident happened in mid-April when Musk and Bessent had gone into the Oval Office to make their respective cases about an appointment for an IRS commissioner. Trump backed Bessent’s choice which infuriated Musk.
The two men began a war of words over this in the White House hallway, which soon got physical. "Musk then rammed his shoulder into Bessent’s rib cage like a rugby player, Stephen K. Bannon, the influential right-wing podcaster and longtime political adviser to Donald Trump told The Washington Post.
Trump was unhappy when he learnt about the incident, commenting "This was too much", the report quoted Bannon.