- Elon Musk has clashed with President Donald Trump and the GOP over their tax and spending bill.
- However, Trump said he hoped Musk would return to the Republican Party.
- "He's got 80% super genius, and then 20% he's got some problems," Trump said of Musk.
President Donald Trump is back to talking about his former backer, Elon Musk, on air.
Trump was asked about Musk during an interview on "The Scott Jennings Show" that aired on Wednesday. The interview, which took place over the phone, was recorded on Tuesday.
"He's got 80% super genius, and then 20% he's got some problems. And when he works out the 20%, he'll be great," Trump said of Musk.
"I always liked him. I like him now. But he went off the reservation and he wished he didn't do it," Trump added.
Trump told Jennings that Musk was "a man of common sense" and a "good man." He added that he was hopeful that Musk would not proceed with his plans to start a new political party and instead return to the GOP.
"I don't think he has a choice," Trump said. "What's he gonna do? He's gonna go with the radical left lunatics? They're lunatics."
Musk and the White House did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Trump and Musk initially enjoyed a close relationship after Musk threw his support behind Trump's presidential campaign in 2024.
Musk spent at least $277 million supporting Trump and other GOP candidates. He later joined the administration and was the de facto head of the White House DOGE office until his departure in May.
However, in June, Musk's relationship with Trump imploded in public view after the two posted heated messages directed at each other on X and Truth Social, respectively.
Musk criticized Trump over the president's signature tax bill, also known as the "Big Beautiful Bill," which passed earlier this year.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the law "will result in a net increase in the unified budget deficit totaling $3.4 trillion over the 2025-2034 period, relative to CBO's January 2025 baseline updated to reflect enacted legislation."
Musk called Trump and the GOP's tax plan a "MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK" and even took credit for Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential elections.
"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House, and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk wrote in an X post on June 5.
"Such ingratitude," he added in a subsequent post.
Trump initially threatened to cancel the government contracts Musk's businesses had received, though he eventually struck a more conciliatory tone with Musk.
"Look, I wish him well. You understand? We had a good relationship, and I just wish him well," Trump told reporters in June.
In July, Musk said on X that he'd form a new political party, the America Party.
Business Insider reported in August that Musk had yet to begin the formal process of starting the America Party, a month after he had made the declaration on social media. Musk continued to be a major GOP donor.
Prominent MAGA figures, including Vice President JD Vance, have expressed hopes that Musk would return to the GOP. They argue that the billionaire was key to Trump's 2024 electoral victory and that having access to the world's richest man would be helpful in future elections.
