Separately, White House aides, after working to persuade the president to temper his public criticism of Musk to avoid escalation, scheduled a call Friday with the billionaire CEO of Tesla to broker a peace.

The alliance between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk spectacularly imploded Thursday as the world’s most prominent bromance collapsed into mutual public trolling. For months, as Musk emerged as the president’s constant companion and self-proclaimed “first buddy,

Elon Musk's statement on social media that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's files haven't been released because President Trump's name appears among them was an "unfortunate episode," the White House said Thursday.