President Donald Trump says Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is "80% Super Genius," but admitted that the billionaire had some problems.
Elon Musk Hailed By Donald Trump As ‘Super Genius'
In a phone interview aired on Wednesday with commentator Scott Jennings, Trump said that Musk was "a man of common sense," and that he had always liked him, Business Insider reported on Thursday.
"He’s got 80% super genius, and then 20% he’s got some problems. And when he works out the 20%, he’ll be great," Trump said, adding that he was hopeful Musk wouldn't form another political party.
"What’s he gonna do? He’s gonna go with the radical left lunatics? They’re lunatics," Trump said in the interview. "I like him now, but he went off the reservation," Trump said, adding that Musk wished he hadn't.
Elon Musk Snubbed By Trump For White House Event
The comments come as Musk was reportedly snubbed by Trump for an event with several prominent tech CEOs like Apple Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI‘s Sam Altman, Meta Platforms Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:META) Mark Zuckerberg, as well as business personalities like Social Capital‘s Chamath Palihapitiya, among others, at the White House's newly renovated Rose Garden.
The snubbing signals that tensions between the pair could still be brewing, as Trump has taken some anti-EV decisions through the Big Beautiful Bill, like axing the $7,500 Federal EV Credit as well as relaxing CAFE norms, both of which could hurt Tesla's sales.
Elon Musk's Return To MAGA, Trump Calls Musk ‘A Good Person'
Trump's comments and omission of Musk from the guest list also follow his earlier comments, where he called Musk a "good person". Musk had also defended Trump over the Epstein birthday letters row despite attacking him over the Epstein files.
Elsewhere, Vice President JD Vance had indicated that he was hopeful of Musk's return to the MAGA contingent in the future. "My hope is that by the time of the midterms, he's kind of come back into the fold," Vance had said in an interview.
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