'Mission accomplished' for Musk as Trump's presidency teeters after exit blow-up: WaPo

If doing irreparable damage to Donald Trump was on Elon Musk's mind when he posted his infamous attack on the president where he stated the president "is in the Epstein files," he certainly got his wish, a report from the Washington Post stated on Saturday.

The bitter break-up between the president and the tech billionaire, who had been a constant presence at the White House as his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was dismantling the government, was the match that lit the fuse of the Jeffrey Epstein chaos that currently has the president and his inner circle back on their heels.

As the WaPo's Cat Zakrzewski wrote, "if Musk’s goal was merely to stoke the controversy without necessarily settling it, his mission has been accomplished — and then some."

According to the report, the owner of X has danced around the periphery of the Epstein files since then by not directly attacking Trump but also not doing anything that could be supportive either.

"It reveals how Musk remains a potent political risk for Trump months after he publicly left the White House, where he enjoyed unprecedented access and insight into the president’s life as the so-called 'first buddy,' rarely leaving his side during the transition and early months of his second term," the report states.

If anything, the growing controversy has lifted the controversial Musk's profile with previous critics stating that he has been "vindicated" by the growing furor.

Noting that on Musk's X the hashtag “#TrumpIsAPedoRapist" has been popular, the report goes on to state, "Allies of Musk serving in the Trump administration have had to tread carefully, largely declining to comment on the feud between the president and one of the world’s most powerful business leaders."

Earlier this week Trump appeared to extend an olive branch to the billionaire by posting on Truth Social, "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.”

The Post noted Musk did not seem receptive, instead complaining that Trump slashed, "... tax credits for electric vehicle companies in the One Big Beautiful Bill while retaining subsidies for the oil and gas industries," as their cold war continues.

You can read more here.