US House Speaker wants to mend fences with Elon Musk

House Speaker Mike Johnson wants to meet Elon Musk to mend relations, after being unable to text him because the American billionaire changed his phone number.

“I sent Elon Musk a long text message explaining, but he changed his phone number. It seems that after a series of arguments, his phone had some problem,” US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on July 16, recalling the tense period between Republican leaders and billionaire Elon Musk surrounding the “Big, Beautiful Act” (OBBBA).

Mr Johnson added that Elon Musk later responded through a third party, confirming that he had changed his phone number. “It turns out I sent a message into thin air. He never read it. I really wish we could meet in person. We have to make amends,” the US House Speaker said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson in Washington on May 22. Photo: AFP

Chairman Johnson said he met with Musk several times in person and “sent lengthy messages” to update him on the progress of the OBBBA. He said “many factors” contributed to the rift between Musk and Republican leaders, but that the billionaire had been largely aware of the bill’s contents before he left the White House.

“Musk has changed his tune very quickly. He’s generally got a sense of what we’re doing. We’ve been talking for months. I’ll let the public judge that. I just want to focus on the mission and the future and play the role of mediator in this story,” Johnson said.

Elon Musk’s relationship with President Donald Trump and Republican leaders began to fray when Trump pushed Congress to approve OBBBA in early May.

Musk publicly opposed the bill in June, shortly after stepping down as chairman of the DOGE Committee. He urged Republicans to vote against the bill, warned of soaring U.S. debt, criticized President Trump personally, and threatened that lawmakers who voted for OBBBA would lose their seats in the 2026 midterm elections.

The US President responded that Elon Musk only cares about the interests of the electric car company Tesla, which will lose subsidies due to the new regulations in the OBBBA. Mr. Trump has repeatedly hinted at the possibility of expelling Musk and asked DOGE to investigate the government contracts with this billionaire’s companies.

Tensions between Elon Musk and President Trump have not subsided.

After OBBBA was passed by the US Congress and signed into law by Mr. Trump on July 4, Elon Musk announced his intention to form an “America” party to change the two-party structure in US politics. Mr. Trump sarcastically said that this idea would certainly “derail”, warning that the emergence of a new party in the US would only lead to total chaos.