Musk backed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 and former President Joe Biden in 2020, but did work with Trump at times during his first term. He said in 2017 that simply attacking Trump would "achieve nothing," calling for "open channels of communication" with the president.

Trump fired back on his own social media site, Truth Social, that the “easiest way to save money” would be to “terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.” Back on X, Musk said: “Go ahead, make my day.”