Donald Trump is thinking about selling his Tesla car amid his public row with the company’s chief Elon Musk, the BBC’s US partner CBS News reports
The White House tells the BBC Trump does not intend to talk to the tech billionaire today, after reports they would speak on the phone later
Trump has spoken to several US media outlets today, one in which he described Musk as “the man who has lost his mind” – we haven’t heard from Musk yet
The rift between president and his former adviser erupted into the open on social media on Thursday, starting with Trump saying he was “disappointed” with Musk’s criticisms of his spending bill
Musk then accused Trump of “ingratitude”, adding: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election” – here’s how the spat unfolded
Musk’s companies, including Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink have direct contracts with the US government – on Thursday, he walked back from an earlier threat to decommission a crucial SpaceX spacecraft used by US astronauts
US journalist Michael Wolff, who predicted the fallout, says the US president is all about “conflict, conflict, conflict”.
“The show goes on and he keeps the show going on,” he says.
Republican pollster Frank Luntz says the row’s escalation was a shock, and thinks both men will regret it because the accusations are so serious.
“They went from zero to 100 in a nanosecond. This is a surprise,” he says.
“This is the boxing global championship, UFC, Super Bowl, World Cup… all rolled into one,” he adds, saying it’s the “last thing” the Trump administration wants.
Journalist Mehdi Hasan also joined the discussion. He says it’ll be interesting to see who actually follows through with their threats.
““I don’t know who to trust here because both have a long track record of lying,” he says.
Donald Trump has told the BBC’s US partner CBS News he is “totally” focused on policy matters rather than Elon Musk.
“That’s all I focus on,” Trump says in a phone call with CBS News’s Robert Costa. “I don’t focus on anything else. That’s why I have my highest poll numbers.”
“The country is doing great, has never done so well. Jobs numbers are great, everything is good,” he says.
Elon Musk – who was quick to respond to Trump’s comments last night – is yet to issue a response to the president’s latest statements today.
Last night saw a rapid exchange between the two figures on social media. However Musk’s social media accounts remain relatively quiet so far.
