House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told CNBC on Friday that he hopes President Donald Trump and his former top adviser Elon Musk can avoid turning “personal” while fighting over the domestic policy bill currently under consideration in the Senate.
Musk hit out at Trump several times on Thursday, claiming that Republicans couldn’t have won the White House or House of Representatives without his help in the 2024 election and claiming that the administration is delaying the release of the government’s files on Jeffrey Epstein because Trump is implicated in them.
“Elon was a big contributor in the last election, but this was a whole team effort,” Johnson said on “Squawk Box” on Friday. “President Trump is the most consequential political figure of his generation, of modern American history. He is the one responsible for that.”
He added that their arguments over “policy differences … should’t be personal,” saying, “I don’t tell my friend Elon, I don’t argue with him about how to build rockets. I wish he wouldn’t argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it.”
Johnson said in an interview with ABC News on Friday, “I was with the president in the Oval Office yesterday afternoon as some of this was unfolding, and I can tell you he, as he said in his own words, he was just disappointed, and I was, too. I’m surprised by Elon’s sudden opposition; and, look, I hope they reconcile. I believe in redemption.”
He added, “But I’ll tell you what: Do not doubt and do not second guess, and don’t ever challenge the president of the United States, Donald Trump. He is the leader of the party. He’s the most consequential political figure of this generation in probably the modern era, and he’s doing an excellent job for the people.”