Is Musk Forced to Return to the Republican Party?

"I don't think he has a choice," Trump said in an interview on Tuesday, stating that Musk now faces only two political options: the Republican Party on one side and "radical left-wing lunatics" on the other.

Despite this, Trump largely praised Musk and downplayed their differences, while also insisting that the billionaire has issues to address.

"He's a good guy. He just overstepped wrongly before. It's okay because, you know, these things happen," Trump said of Musk.

Trump also described Musk as "80% super genius and 20% problem. When he solves that 20%, he's great. But he's having some difficulties."

In last year's U.S. election, Musk strongly supported Trump, becoming one of the key contributors to Trump's victory. As a result, their relationship was initially "inseparable" during the early days of Trump's presidency. However, their friendship publicly fractured later when Trump proposed a "big and beautiful" fiscal bill that Musk strongly opposed—especially since the bill ended tax credits for electric vehicles, which could have prevented Tesla from continuing to benefit.

Musk had previously claimed that he would establish a third party to challenge the current Republican and Democratic parties in the U.S. In retaliation, Trump once threatened to terminate Musk's government contracts and subsidies. However, neither followed up with further actions, preventing the situation from escalating.