Separately, White House aides, after working to persuade the president to temper his public criticism of Musk to avoid escalation, scheduled a call Friday with the billionaire CEO of Tesla to broker a peace.

Elon Musk's statement on social media that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's files haven't been released because President Trump's name appears among them was an "unfortunate episode," the White House said Thursday.

Elon Musk’s explosive rift with the White House stems from longstanding tensions about his libertarian policies and his unpredictable behaviour, according to sources close to the president.