Donald Trump has responded after Elon Musk said some of his recent social media posts about the US president “went too far”.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss shared a series of posts on his X social media platform last week, including one which described Mr Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination”.

He also claimed, in a since-deleted post, that the president appeared in files relating to the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Posting on X this morning, Mr Musk said: “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”

In response, the president is quoted as telling the New York Post: “I thought it was very nice that he did that.”

The publication said it spoke to Mr Trump in a brief phone conversation.

The White House dismissed Mr Musk’s Epstein claims at the time, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying: “This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill [a Republican tax and spending bill] because it does not include the policies he wanted.

“The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.”

Mr Musk did not specify which posts he regretted.

In another post last Thursday, Mr Musk attacked Mr Trump’s tariffs, saying they “will cause a recession in the second half of this year”.

In response, Mr Trump, in an interview with ABC News, said Mr Musk had “lost his mind”. He also threatened to cancel government contracts with the businessman’s companies and said he had asked the billionaire to leave the White House.

But yesterday, Mr Musk’s father Errol Musk told Sky News’ Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett: “It’s like any argument. Everybody at some point says I’ll never make up, but then they do later.”

He said the argument likely happened because of “emotions welling out of hand”.

“They’ve had five months of intense day and night, hardly any sleep, and anybody who went through that would know your nerves are pretty much shredded after that time.”

He also said his son had texted him to say: “Don’t worry, we’re sorting it out.”

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The spat hit Tesla shares, which closed down 14.3% last Thursday, losing about $150bn (£111bn) in value.

They’ve since regained much of their value compared to the beginning of the month.

A curfew has come into force in Los Angeles as officials attempt to “stop the vandalism and stop the looting”.

Mayor Karen Bass said the restrictions will be in force in downtown areas of the city from 8pm to 6am local time (4am to 2pm UK time) – and will likely be repeated in the coming days.

She confirmed that a local emergency had been declared as “we reached a tipping point”, with 23 businesses looted on Monday night.

Ms Bass said “graffiti is everywhere”, with “significant damage” to properties as a result of the protests.

Jim McDonnell, the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, described the curfew as a “necessary measure to protect lives” as “unlawful and dangerous behaviour” had been escalating in the last few days.

On Tuesday alone, 197 arrests were made by the force, and he warned anyone violating the curfew without a valid reason would be detained.

Residents, people who are homeless, those travelling to and from work, credited media as well as public safety and emergency personnel, will be exempt from the curfew.

The curfew covers a one square mile section of downtown LA that includes the area where protests have happened since Friday. The city of Los Angeles encompasses about 500 square miles.

The protests are in response to raids carried out by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

US President Donald Trump has activated 4,000 National Guard troops – the federal reserve force – to protect ICE officers carrying out raids as well as federal buildings in LA, despite objections by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the deployments unnecessary, illegal and politically motivated.

Mr Trump also sent 700 marines, who are expected to start operating in the LA area on Wednesday, according to the US Northern Command.

Read more from Sky News:
Eyewitness: Furious immigrants vow to ‘defend’ LA
What we know about the LA immigration raids and protests
Explainer: Who is Gavin Newsom?

State officials said Mr Trump’s response was an extreme overreaction to mostly peaceful demonstrations, with California senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla saying the domestic mobilisation of active-duty military personnel should only happen “during the most extreme circumstances, and these are not them”.

Mr Trump defended his decision in a speech to soldiers at the Army base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, saying his administration would “liberate Los Angeles”.

“Generations of Army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness,” Mr Trump said.

“What you’re witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags.”

Gavin Newsom launched a blistering response in an address on Tuesday evening, saying the deployment of the National Guard without consulting Californian officials was a “brazen abuse of power by a sitting president”.

He said it “enflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk”.

“That’s when the downward spiral began. He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even harder – and the president, he did it on purpose,” Mr Newsom said.

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The governor accused Mr Trump of choosing escalation and “theatrics over public safety”, as the situation was “winding down” before the president deployed the troops.

Mr Newsom added: “When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation.

“This is about all of us, this is about you. California may be first, but it clearly won’t end here; other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes.”

Homeland Security said on Monday that ICE had arrested 2,000 immigration offenders per day recently, which significantly exceeds the 311 daily average in the fiscal year 2024 under former president Joe Biden.

The protests over the immigration raids have started to spread across the US, with demonstrations in cities like Seattle, Austin, Chicago and Washington, DC.

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While chaos in Los Angeles continues, with a curfew in place in the city to prevent further unrest, Donald Trump spent the day hunkered down in a bunker with helicopters soaring above and drones buzzing by at a celebration of the US army’s birthday.

US correspondents Mark Stone in Washington DC and Martha Kelner in LA discuss the parallels between the president’s display of military celebration, and sending troops in to restore law and order against protesters.

Plus, as US and Chinese negotiators meet in London to try and resolve the ongoing trade war between the two nations, Mark and Martha ask what’s at stake.

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