Musk backed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 and former President Joe Biden in 2020, but did work with Trump at times during his first term. He said in 2017 that simply attacking Trump would "achieve nothing," calling for "open channels of communication" with the president.

President Trump has threatened to cut the US government’s ties with Elon Musk’s businesses after the former “first buddy” fell out with the commander in chief. As Musk began slashing away at what he called government waste with the Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year,