Musk made direct appeals to Trump to reverse sweeping new tariffs - The Washington Post

Author : Elizabeth Dwoskin, Faiz Siddiqui, Pranshu Verma, Trisha Thadani

The world’s richest person, a key Trump adviser and political donor, was ultimately unsuccessful.

Accessibility statementSkip to main content Democracy Dies in Darkness Sign in Advertisement Trump tariffs What to know Zero tariffs Impact on prices Trade war Mortgage rates Retirement plans Musk made direct appeals to Trump to reverse sweeping new tariffs The world’s richest person, a key Trump adviser and political donor, was ultimately unsuccessful.

April 7, 2025 at 7:46 p.m. EDTToday at 7:46 p.m. EDT

Elon Musk speaks with President Donald Trump and reporters in the Oval Office on Feb. 11. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post By Elizabeth Dwoskin, Faiz Siddiqui, Pranshu Verma and Trisha Thadani Over the weekend, as Elon Musk launched into a barrage of social media posts criticizing one of the lead White House advisers for President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff plan, Musk was going over that same official’s head — and making personal appeals to Trump.

The attempted intervention, confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks, has not brought success so far; Trump threatened Monday to add new 50 percent tariffs on imports from China to go along with the 34 percent taxes he announced last week. (The president did signal he was open to negotiations on some aspects of his policy.) Musk, meanwhile, posted a video to X in which the late conservative economist Milton Friedman touted the benefits of international trade cooperation — “the impersonal operation of prices,” as he put it — breaking down the sources of the materials that go into a simple wooden pencil.

Musk’s break with Trump over a signature administration priority marks the highest-profile disagreement between the president and one of his key advisers, who poured nearly $290 million into backing him and other Republicans in last year’s elections and has been leading the U.S. DOGE Service’s cost-cutting efforts since January. Musk has also disagreed with other members of Trump’s coalition on issues such as H1-B visas for skilled immigrants and on DOGE’s approach to government spending.