US President Donald Trump seemed to take a jab at Elon Musk, calling out the billionaire just days after he reportedly moved out of his White House workspace.

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Speaking to graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday (May 01), Trump offered life advice, touched on political issues, and took a surprising dig at his so-called “first buddy.”

'Now they’re kissing my a**'

While discussing the importance of disrupting outdated systems, Trump veered off-topic to talk about how tech billionaires have changed their stance on him since his first term.

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“Change is never easy, and the closer you get to success, the more ferociously those with a vested interest in the past will resist you,” Trump said.

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“You have to break the system a little bit and follow your own instincts. But if your vision is right, nothing will hold you down, nothing. You have to have the right vision,” he added.

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He continued, “If you look at some of these internet people, I know so many of them. Elon is so terrific, but I know now all of them, you know, they all hated me in my first term, and now they’re kissing my a--. You know... it’s true. All of them. It’s true.”

A complicated history between Musk and Trump

Before becoming the best of the buddies, Trump and Musk have had a rocky relationship over the years. Back in 2022, Musk said Trump was “too old” to run again and should “sail into the sunset.”

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Trump didn’t take kindly to the comment and hit back, “When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidised projects, whether it’s electric cars that don’t drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he’d be worthless and tell me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, ‘drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have done it.”

Despite the public spat, the two seemed to patch things up, with Musk becoming a regular figure at the White House under Trump’s latest administration.

Trump has jokingly commented in the past about Musk’s constant presence. “Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him,” he said in November 2024. “Until I don’t like him,” he added.

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Musk has now stepped back from his regular White House visits and is focusing more on Tesla, which has been going through a rough patch lately.

According to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Musk is still involved but not as visible.

“Instead of meeting with him in person, I’m talking to him on the phone, but it’s the same net effect,” Wiles told the New York Post. “He’s not out of it altogether. He’s just not physically present as much as he was,” Wiles added.

Watch: Tesla board searches for a new CEO to replace Musk: WSJ report