House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., says former Department of Government Efficiency architect Elon Musk has cut him off after the break from President Donald Trump and the House passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB).
"I sent him a long text message, and then his phone number changed, because after the blow-up, something happened with his – realized I was sending it out into the ether somewhere and he never read it," Johnson told the New York Post's Miranda Devine podcast.
Musk has since vowed to start the America Party to split the independent vote that does not like siding with Trump's MAGA Republicans or Democrats.
But Johnson noted third parties between him and Musk are communicating to get the two back in contact.
"So I look forward to meeting with him in person," Johnson added. "We got to make that right."
Efforts to mend fences have begun in the days since the passage of the OBBB — opposed by Musk, who argued it didn't go far enough in cutting President Joe Biden-era spending. Johnson, however, has said those cuts can't be made through budget reconciliation and would require Democratic support, which Republicans are unlikely to secure.
Musk, Trump, and the GOP need to repair the fissures before the midterms, according to Johnson.
"Frankly, I think the president was of that mind as well, but there's some tension there," Johnson added.
"But clearly, [Musk] got unhappy in a very short period of time. I mean, he generally knew what we were doing, and we talked about it. I mean, he knew for months, many months we worked on this, and I was keeping him apprised of it.
"The final product maybe didn't meet all of his expectations in terms of what we're doing, for example, with electric vehicles and the Biden mandates and all of that, but there are other things as well.
"But look, I let other people judge that."
Johnson, who is juggling the anti-Trump GOP members in a narrowly divided House, says he wants to play peacemaker with the anti-Trump forces outside of Congress, too.
"I've got to keep my eyes on the prize and keep going forward, and I'm trying to be a peacemaker in all of it," Johnson said, urging Musk to let the lawmakers work the legislation while he builds rockets and electric vehicles, because "we can't solve the problem overnight" of cutting massive government waste, fraud, and abuse.
"Look, Elon is a genius," he continued. "He does things that I can't even fathom, but one of his fields of expertise was not necessarily crafting legislation, right?
"I've got nothing against Elon, obviously. I have great respect for what he's done, and I just want him to fully understand what we're doing and remind him of the strategy. This is a long-term play.
"We can't fix this stuff overnight, but we have a plan to do it, and I think that's going to be pleasing to everybody who's worried about our deficit and our debt."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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