Lower than two days after Elon Musk slammed President Donald Trump over the megabill transferring by Congress, the billionaire appeared to take away a number of of his most scathing posts on X that focused the president, together with one which insinuated Trump was within the Epstein recordsdata.
Musk posted on Thursday, with out offering proof, a declare that the Division of Justice hasn’t launched its recordsdata into its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex-trafficking minors in 2019, as a result of Trump is in them.
“Time to drop the actually massive bomb: @realDonaldTrump is within the Epstein recordsdata,” he wrote. “That’s the actual cause they haven’t been made public. Have a pleasant day, DJT!”
That submit was eliminated in a single day and had disappeared Saturday morning, with the hyperlink to the submit now exhibiting a message that mentioned, “Nothing to see right here.”
Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk attends the inauguration ceremony the place Donald Trump will sworn in because the forty seventh US President within the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025.
Chip Somodevilla/Pool/AFP through Getty Photographs, Information
Musk’s obvious transfer to take away the Epstein submit got here simply hours after he made one other vital submit Friday evening, through which he wrote he would apologize to Trump “as quickly as there’s a full dump of the Epstein recordsdata.” That submit was additionally later deleted.
Trump dismissed Musk’s claims in an interview with NBC Information launched Saturday.
“That is known as ‘outdated information.’ That is been outdated information. That has been talked about for years. Even Epstein’s lawyer mentioned I had nothing to do with it — it is outdated information,” he mentioned.
“It is outdated information. This has been talked about for years and years. And as you realize, I used to be not pleasant with Epstein for most likely 18 years earlier than he died. I used to be in no way pleasant with him,” Trump added.
The president expressed disappointment within the criticism and threatened to chop federal contracts to Musk’s companies.
On Friday, he instructed ABC Information’ Jonathan Karl that he was “not notably” excited by speaking with Musk.
“You imply the person who has misplaced his thoughts?” he requested.
Later Friday night, Trump instructed reporters, “I am not occupied with Elon Musk. I simply want him properly.”
President-elect Donald Trump, Trump’s choose for the deliberate Division of Authorities Effectivity Elon Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance attend the NCAA faculty soccer recreation between Military and Navy in Landover, Md., Dec. 14, 2024.
Stephanie Scarbrough/AP
Trump has beforehand posted, “I used to be by no means on Epstein’s Aircraft, or at his ‘silly’ Island,” and he has not publicly objected to the discharge of the recordsdata now below overview on the DOJ.
Trump’s earlier affiliation with Epstein and the looks of his identify in an handle e book and on flight logs of Epstein’s airplane has been extensively reported. Nonetheless, that doesn’t point out Trump had any involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
Vice President JD Vance mentioned in a podcast interview launched Friday that Musk’s accusation is “completely not” true, and he added that he hopes Musk “comes again into the fold.”
Musk additionally deleted a repost of an X person who known as for Trump’s impeachment and for him to get replaced by Vance. “Sure,” Musk wrote in response to the submit, showing to assist the concept.
It was not clear when precisely the posts had been eliminated.
Nonetheless, a number of of Musk’s different posts vital of the president stay on his account as of Saturday morning, together with one claiming Trump would have misplaced the election with out his assist.
ABC Information’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
