'Wonderful guy': Trump praises Musk despite mogul's criticism of his mega bill

President Donald Trump called Elon Musk a "wonderful guy" during an exclusive interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News on Sunday, despite the Tesla founder's recent criticism of the administration's spending bill, which Musk referred to as a "disgusting abomination."

Trump, however, noted that some of Musk's behavior, including a deleted tweet linking the president to Jeffrey Epstein, "not appropriate."

The tension between the two arose after Musk's criticism of the bill recently passed by the Senate, which the tech billionaire said will "destroy millions of jobs" and hurt not yet started wind and solar projects.

In that vein, in a post on X on Saturday, coinciding with his 54th birthday, Musk called the project "utterly insane and destructive," arguing that it will cause “immense strategic harm” to the United States.

The disagreement is not new

Earlier in June, Musk lashed out at an early version of the project, describing it as an "outrageous" waste of public funds. "Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it," he wrote then on X.

During the interview, Bartiromo asked Trump about the relationship with Musk and the reasons for his displeasure. Trump suggested that Musk's discomfort could be related to the mandate on electric vehicles, a sensitive topic for the former DOGE director.

“I don't want everybody to have an electric car," Trump said, highlighting differences of vision with Musk, who has been a strong advocate of transportation electrification.

Despite the criticism, Trump maintained a calm tone, acknowledging Musk's intelligence and past support in campaigns. “I haven't spoken to him much, but I think Elon is a wonderful guy, and I know he's going to do well always," the president added.