‘Not so!’ Trump denies accusation that he wants to ‘destroy’ Musk’s companies

Despite the attacks by billionaire Elon Musk, President Donald Trump said he has no interest in taking down his companies.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has been in a bitter feud with the president since exiting his temporary post leading the Department of Government Efficiency. His public criticism of the “big, beautiful” spending and tax bill was followed by Trump threatening to cancel federal contracts with Musk’s companies.

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” the president said in June.

But he took to Truth Social on Thursday to respond to questions about whether he will block federal agencies from working with Musk’s businesses, saying he wants his former “first buddy” to succeed.

“Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon’s companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so!” Trump wrote.

“I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before! The better they do, the better the USA does, and that’s good for all of us,” he added.  “We are setting records every day, and I want to keep it that way!”

Trump’s post came on the heels of comments by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who responded in Wednesday’s press briefing about whether the president was in favor of federal agencies contracting with Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.

“I don’t think so, no,” Leavitt had replied.

She said she would speak with Trump about his position after being asked about a recent federal contract with the AI company.

REPORTER: “Does President Trump support federal agencies contracting with Elon Musk’s AI company?”

LEAVITT: “I don’t think so, no.”

REPORTER: “So he would want the DOJ to cancel the contract with Elon.”

LEAVITT: “I’ll talk to him about it, yes.” pic.twitter.com/g8NygW3xw9

— Autism Capital (@AutismCapital) July 23, 2025

Earlier this month, the Pentagon awarded xAI and three other tech firms a contract with the Department of Defense just as Musk’s company unveiled Grok for Government.

“America is the world leader in AI, and this is in no small part due to a tradition of innovation and strong investments in engineering and science,” the company said in a news release at the time. “We’re excited to contribute back to the country that made xAI uniquely possible here.”