The war of words between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has ended for now, with the tech billionaire on Wednesday acknowledging that he regrets some of what he posted about the president last week, noting he “went too far.” Indeed, what started as opposition to the Big, Beautiful Bill eventually turned personal as Musk accused Trump of being in the Jeffrey Epstein files—a claim he later deleted on X. He also backed calls for his impeachment and argued the president would’ve lost the 2024 election without him.
The public breakup disappointed conservatives and made a big dent in Musk’s favorability on the right, according to a YouGov/Economist survey conducted in the days after the fight.
- More Americans have unfavorable opinions about Elon Musk than on any previous Economist / YouGov Poll, in the wake of Musk's dramatic break with Trump
- Musk was already deeply unpopular with Democrats, around 80% of whom viewed Musk very or somewhat unfavorably last week, and Musk's spat with Trump didn't change that
- But many Republicans did turn on Musk, who went from 76% favorable / 18% unfavorable last week among Republicans to 67% / 28%
- Musk's net favorability among Republicans fell from +59 to +39
Republicans did take sides in the feud, with more backing President Trump, the survey shows.
- When it comes specifically to Musk's break with Trump, Republicans overwhelmingly side with Trump over Musk
- 74% of Republicans say they side with Trump, while only 6% side with Musk
- Among the roughly half of Republicans who identify as "MAGA Republicans," 92% side with Trump and 4% with Musk
- Non-MAGA Republicans are still much more likely to side with Trump (51%) rather than with Musk (9%); 29% of non-MAGA Republicans — Republicans who say they don't identify as MAGA — say they side with neither man, compared to 1% of MAGA Republicans
- Overall, half (50%) of Americans side with neither Trump nor Musk
Economist/YouGov Poll
— YouGov America (@YouGovAmerica) June 10, 2025
Net favorability of Elon Musk at the start of Donald Trump's second term | now among...
U.S. adult citizens: -4 | -23
Democrats: -66 | -77
Republicans: +64 | +39https://t.co/iVo3SUDVSJhttps://t.co/g7oXnvEtyG pic.twitter.com/wbmp1vtytm
Economist/YouGov Poll
— YouGov America (@YouGovAmerica) June 10, 2025
If they had to choose, % who would side more with Donald Trump | Elon Musk
U.S. adult citizens 34% | 9%
Democrats 2% | 12%
Independents 24% | 10%
Republicans 74% | 6%
MAGA Republicans 92% | 4%
Non-MAGA Republicans 51% | 9%https://t.co/SHZxeRFFNo pic.twitter.com/CEyuR1Noj8
Despite reports of a phone call between the two last week, Trump said he had no interest in speaking with Musk, telling reporters “Elon’s totally lost it.” But this week, the president suggested in an interview with the New York Post's Miranda Devine that the two "could" reconcile, but his priority right now is to "straighten out the country." The comments come after Trump already began to soften his tone about Musk.
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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2025
