CEO Elon Musk's close ties with President Trump initially gave many investors hope for faster progress on initiatives like robotaxis and autonomous driving. Barron associate editor Al Root explains why that optimism was overblown and discusses the risks the Musk–Trump relationship still poses.

President Trump said on Thursday that he wanted to see Elon Musk's companies thrive, one day after the White House said he didn't want Musk's xAI to get government contracts. Why it matters: Since the Trump-Musk relationship blew up last month,

The president said in a Truth Social post that he wanted Musk's businesses to "THRIVE like never before."

In the ensuing public clash last month, Trump repeatedly threatened to terminate government subsidies and contracts with Musk’s companies. He even suggested siccing Musk’s DOGE on its former handler, posting: “Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far…. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this?”

Elon Musk is once again weighing in on President Donald Trump and the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. See the latest comments.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump joined forces before the 2024 presidential election to help each other out. Trump needed Musk’s money to buy votes and Musk needed Trump to decimate the federal government while making sure contracts with his own companies remained untouched.

President Donald Trump faces ongoing questions about the Jeffrey Epstein case, overshadowing his administration’s achievements