“Look, he’s a nice guy, and he’s a very capable guy. I’ve always liked him,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “He had a bad spell, he had a bad period, he had a bad moment, it was a stupid moment in his life, very stupid, I’m sure he’d tell you that. But I like Elon, and I suspect I’ll always like him.”

Trump and Musk were once close after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO backed Trump over former Vice President Kamala Harris last year. Having donated nearly $290 million to Trump’s reelection campaign, Musk was the nation’s most prominent donor during the 2024 election.

Musk went on to serve in the Trump administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency until May, when his time as a special government employee ended. Shortly after his departure, Musk publicly criticized the Republican Party’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and brought up Trump’s ties to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in an effort to insult the president.

The GOP megabill, despite Musk’s opposition, ultimately passed Congress and became law in July.

As time passed, Musk’s rhetoric against Trump subsided. Their feud appeared to end when the two were spotted shaking hands and speaking at conservative commentator Charlie Kirk‘s memorial last month.

On Monday, Trump said he has spoken to Musk “on and off” since their reunion at Kirk’s memorial.

While apparently settling his differences with Trump, Musk is now targeting Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over a matter that is very important to the tech mogul: space.

The fight stems from Duffy’s decision to open NASA’s contracts with SpaceX to other competitors as the agency races to send a manned mission to the moon before the end of Trump’s second term. Duffy, who’s the current acting head of NASA, suggested SpaceX was behind schedule.

Musk then said Duffy was “trying to kill NASA” and insulted his intelligence.

MUSK SAYS TRUMP TRANSPORTATION CHIEF ‘SEAN DUMMY’ TRYING TO ‘KILL’ NASA

“The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2-digit IQ,” Musk wrote on X.

The Trump administration continues to search for a long-term NASA administrator after the president pulled his nomination of Jared Isaacman, a billionaire aligned with Musk. The nominee was yanked as Musk left the White House in late May.