Are former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk patching things up? The two met, along with a few wealthy Republican donors, in Palm Beach, Florida, over the weekend, according to a New York Times report based on three sources briefed on the meeting. (NBC News has not confirmed the meeting, and neither Trump nor Musk responded to the Times’ request for comment.) That reported meet-up has raised buzz about a rekindling of the Trump-Musk rapport, as Trump scrambles for cash while he hemorrhages money for legal costs and prepares to shell out hundreds of millions in legal penalties.
In response to the buzz from the report, Musk said on his site X Wednesday that he is “not donating money to either candidate for US President.” That statement, however, leaves room for him to help Trump out with less direct contributions. And it’s a plausible scenario. Trump and Musk have had their differences in the past, but in recent years their interests have converged. That’s enough reason to keep an eye on their relationship.
Circumstances have changed for both men — and created what may be a greater confluence of interests.
When Trump was president, he and Musk butted heads on multiple occasions. Musk dropped out of Trump’s White House business councils after Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, and Musk tweeted condemnation of Trump’s move. In 2022, Musk said that Trump had become too old for the presidency and should “hang up his hat and sail into the sunset.” Trump responded by calling Musk a “bull—- artist” and claimed that when he was president Musk was a fawning businessman desperate for government subsidies. “I could have said, ‘drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have done it,” Trump said on Truth Social at the time.
But circumstances have changed for both men — and created what may be a greater confluence of interests. In particular, Trump’s financial challenges have grown dire. Biden is leading him in the…
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