Donald Trump brands Elon Musk as 'the man who lost his mind' and wants to ditch Tesla amid bitter public feud

By StephenRigley

President Donald Trump has thrown cold water on the notion that he and Elon Musk could hold peace talks after their row over the former’s “big, beautiful bill” erupted into a spectacular public feud.

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The president dismissed Musk as "the man who has lost his mind" and said he was "not particularly" interested in reconciliation in a call with ABC News.

Later he told CNN that he is “not even thinking about Elon … The poor guy’s got a problem.”

READ MORE: Trump and Musk's breakup reveals the truth of populist politics, writes Lewis Goodall

It is understood that reports that the two men who due to thrash out their differences in a phone call were false and Trump was actually planning to part ways with all traces of the world's richest man.

The president is looking to now sell or give away the red Tesla he bought for full price three months ago.

READ MORE: Elon Musk calls for Trump to be impeached after explosive public fallout

The astonishing fallout between the two men erupted when Musk called his signature legislation, a tax and spending bill that could drive up the national debt, a “disgusting abomination,” urging senators to “kill” it.

Lashing out at his former friend, Trump said: “I'm very disappointed, because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody... He had no problem with it.”

As the row blew-up Musk fired a series of insults at Trump, alleging that he was in the US government's files on paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and declaring that he would have lost last year's presidential election without his support.

Trump said Musk was "wearing thin" and that the president had to ask him to leave the White House. He went on to say that the US government could end all federal contracts with Musk's companies if the insults continued to fly.

Tesla stocks fell in the wake of the row.