President Donald Trump has once again said the quiet part out loud.
During a signing ceremony for a trio of bills blocking California’s new emissions standards and pro-electric vehicle push, the president admitted that he had been surprised when his bestie-turned-sparring partner Elon Musk worked to get him elected.
“I used to say I’m amazed that he’s endorsing me because that can’t be good for him,” Trump quipped. “I’m abolishing the EV mandate.”
The president claimed that the Tesla CEO never spoke to him about his anti-EV stance, and when Trump brought it up himself, Musk seemed sanguine.
“I once asked him about it, ‘You never talked to me about that.’ He said, ‘Well, as long as it’s happening to everybody, I’ll be able to compete,'” the commander-in-chief recounted. “It’s a very interesting answer.”
“You would have thought he would have been from day one, ‘You got to make sure you don’t do the EV mandate, the abolishing,'” Trump continued. “He never did.”
Impressed as the president was by the Tesla CEO’s even-keeled response to his attacks on his industry, he alluded to his and Musk’s recent and very public breakup following the younger billionaire’s exit from the White House a few weeks ago. Though they’ve cooled the flames of the conflict since, they don’t seem to have quite kissed and made up.
“He got a little bit strange,” Trump said. “I don’t know why, over much smaller things than [the EV attacks].”
Indeed, among the laundry list of reasons why the two fell out — including, according to the Washington Post, Trump’s concerns about Musk being a “big-time drug addict” — the president’s push to kibosh EVs was not among them.
Despite praising Musk’s business bravado, Trump seemed unable to resist taking a final potshot.
“Now I know why Elon doesn’t like me so much,” the president joked during the ceremony.
More on EV policy: Elon Musk Is Realizing He Made a Huge Mistake
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