Former President Donald Trump has characterized Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk as “80% Super Genius,” while also acknowledging the billionaire’s shortcomings.
In a phone interview with commentator Scott Jennings that aired on Wednesday, Trump described Musk as “a man of common sense” and stated he has always liked him, according to Business Insider’s report on Thursday.
“He’s got 80% super genius, and then 20% he’s got some problems. And when he works out the 20%, he’ll be great,” Trump said. He also expressed hope that Musk wouldn’t create a new political party.
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“What’s he gonna do? He’s gonna go with the radical left lunatics? They’re lunatics,” Trump stated during the interview. “I like him now, but he went off the reservation,” Trump added, noting that Musk regretted his actions.
These comments follow reports that Musk was excluded from a White House event attended by prominent tech CEOs, including Apple Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI‘s Sam Altman, Meta Platforms Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:META) Mark Zuckerberg, and Social Capital‘s Chamath Palihapitiya, among others. The event was held in the newly renovated Rose Garden.
This exclusion suggests ongoing tension between Trump and Musk. Trump’s previous policies, such as the Big Beautiful Bill, included actions against electric vehicles, such as potentially axing the $7,500 Federal EV Credit and easing CAFE standards, which could negatively impact Tesla’s sales.
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These comments and Musk’s absence from the event follow earlier remarks where Trump described Musk as a “good person.” Musk has also defended Trump regarding the Epstein birthday letters controversy, despite previously criticizing him over the Epstein files.
Furthermore, Vice President JD Vance expressed optimism about Musk potentially rejoining the MAGA movement in the future. “My hope is that by the time of the midterms, he’s kind of come back into the fold,” Vance stated in an interview.
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