Trump's Petty Move Hints He Isn't Letting Go Of His Newest Grudge Any Time Soon

Donald Trump and Elon Musk went from BFFs to bitter enemies, and Trump seems to be holding onto his new found irritation with Musk by making a new tech bro buddy in the form of Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company which developed ChatGPT. Now it's Altman who's the one who's being invited to Trump's golf clubs, just like Musk used to be. And it may be Altman that Trump now turns to for thoughts on tech advisory issues instead of Musk. Though whether Altman will reach the level of cringe that Musk and Trump found together when they hung out, only time will tell.

Musk certainly can't be happy with Altman and Trump spending time together. Before the bromance turned sour between Musk and Trump, Altman and Musk also had a falling out. Musk was actually one of the 11 founders of OpenAI back in 2015. He left by 2018 when the two couldn't agree on the best way forward for the company. Musk has tried to buy OpenAI, and he's sued the company; OpenAI countersued Musk. X, Musk's company, has its own competing AI division.

Elon Musk has also used his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to come after Sam Altman, who some consider his potential Silicon Valley billionaire replacement at Donald Trump's side. In January 2025, it was announced that OpenAI would be a part of a new company called Stargate, which would be investing hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure. The so-called Stargate Project was described by Trump as "the largest AI infrastructure project in history," via CNN. Musk replied to the announcement about OpenAI's involvement in the project by posting on X, "They don't actually have the money." Not long after that, he referred to the OpenAI founder as "Scam Altman" on X.

Altman and Trump weren't always on the same page though either. In a switch similar to how JD Vance once lambasted Donald Trump but now is a huge fan, Altman used to be a critic of Trump, but now he seems to have come around to Trump's way of thinking. Altman donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund; however, with Musk firmly at Trump's side at the time, Altman was in the overflow room for the inauguration while Musk had a front row seat. Now it seems that Musk is out in the cold and Altman may be in.