The former DOGE chief has said some of his posts directed at the US president "went too far"

Elon Musk has said he went "too far" with some of his recent social media posts targeting US President Donald Trump. The two traded threats and insults online last week, in a row that was widely viewed as an end of their "bromance."

"I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far," Musk said on his X account early on Wednesday morning.

Musk sponsored Trump's run for a second term to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, which he claimed was crucial for the Republican candidate's victory last November. Musk was also appointed to serve in the administration as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with slashing government waste.

In recent weeks, however, the tech entrepreneur has emerged as a vocal critic of Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill" that requires Congressional approval to fund the president's second term policy priorities. Musk branded the proposal full of "pork" and claimed it reneged on the campaign promise to decrease the federal debt.

Trump claimed last week that Musk opposed the bill out of self-interest, which triggered a barrage of increasingly hostile posts between the pair. The president branded Musk "crazy," while the tech billionaire alleged that Trump was complicit in the sex offenses of late financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk later deleted the post.

Musk did not specify which of his previous posts he now found regrettable. Media reports have suggested that his associates and the White House were engaged in backchannel communications in a bid to deflate the tensions. Trump publicly said he was not interested in direct contacts with Musk, but later appeared to tone down his rhetoric toward the entrepreneur.