Karoline Leavitt makes it clear where she stands amid Trump-Musk feud with very telling post
One week before, she and longtime Trump aide Margo Martin had posed in the Tesla that's parked outside the White House, which the president said he was purchasing as Musk's electric car company was taking a hit over his MAGA ties and work at DOGE.
But on Thursday Leavitt shared one of Trump's Truth Social messages the president dished out about Musk - after first taking on the Tesla and SpaceX CEO in an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Trump had written, 'I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago.'
'This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It's a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn't pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that,' Trump wrote.
'I didn't create this mess, I'm just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' the president added.
Musk's spat with Trump got so brutal on Thursday that he claimed that the president 'is in the Epstein files' - attempting to connect the commander-in-chief with the serial pedophile who died in prison in 2019.
Leavitt pushed back on that too, telling the Daily Mail in a statement: 'This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.'
On Thursday, however, press secretary Karoline Leavitt made it clear that she was on President Donald Trump's side in Trump's very public spat with former DOGE leader Elon Musk
'The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again,' Leavitt added.
Trump didn't directly respond to Musk's Epstein charge, instead posting the Truth Social message that Leavitt shared.
Later Trump ignored shouted questions from reporters on Musk's Epstein charge as he hosted the National Fraternal Order of Police executive board in the State Dining Room.
A source familiar pointed out to the Daily Mail that 'everyone knows President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Palm Beach Golf Club.'
'The Administration itself released Epstein files with the President's name included. This is not a new surprise Elon is uncovering. Everyone already knew this,' the source continued.
The source also mused, 'If Elon truly thought the President was more deeply involved with Epstein, why did he hangout with him for 6 months and say he "loves him as much as a straight man can love a straight man?"'
The Musk-Trump break-up had started over the bill, which is now going through the U.S. Senate, which Musk complained added to the deficit and reversed the work he had done leading DOGE, the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency.
But it quickly turned personal once Trump floated that he wasn't sure the relationship between the two billionaires could be saved.
'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will any more, I was surprised,' Trump told reporters as he was seated alongside Germany's leader.
The president suggested that Musk was angry - not over the bill ballooning the deficit - but because the Trump administration has pulled back on electric vehicle mandates, which negatively impacted Tesla, and replaced the Musk-approved nominee to lead NASA, which could hinder SpaceX 's government contracts.
Musk then posted that Trump would have lost the 2024 election had it not been for the world's richest man - him.
'Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,' Musk claimed.
'Such ingratitude,' the billionaire added.
After the Oval Office meeting Trump took to Truth Social Thursday afternoon and asserted that he had asked Musk to leave his administration and said the billionaire went 'CRAZY!'
'Elon was "wearing thin," I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!' Trump wrote.
The president then threatened to pull SpaceX and Tesla's government contracts.
'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!' Trump wrote.
It ratcheted up even more, with Musk saying he could decommission the only rocket ships that are currently hauling U.S. astronauts and their supplies to the International Space Station.
Musk also made the Epstein charge and later said he would back Trump's impeachment, saying he was for Vice President J.D. Vance taking the president's place.
Steve Bannon, a longtime adviser of Trump and a leader of the MAGA movement, pushed that the South African-born Musk be investigated - and maybe even deported.
Last Friday, Trump had heralded Musk in the Oval Office, gifting him a golden key and giving him a send-off from DOGE, as the billionaire headed back into the private sector.
As Thursday evening approached, Trump's Tesla remained parked on West Executive Avenue, just steps away from the West Wing.
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