Senator Ted Cruz has offered a firsthand account of the dramatic moment the feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk erupted inside the Oval Office in June 2025.
Cruz said he was present at the White House seeking Trump’s support for a school-choice provision when Musk’s social media post suddenly derailed the entire discussion.
Trump aide Natalie Harp entered the room and handed the president a printed copy of a post Musk had published on X, according to Cruz’s account on Patrick Bet-David’s PBD Podcast.
Musk’s post alleged that Trump’s name appeared in the Epstein files and suggested this was the reason those files had not been made public, adding that the truth would eventually emerge.
Cruz described the moment as an extraordinary interruption, explaining that aides routinely print out notable posts and present them directly to Trump for him to read.
“Natalie comes in, printed on a piece of paper and hands it to him,” Cruz said. “And he literally reads that tweet.”
Cruz watched Trump’s reaction in real time, describing a visible physical change in the president as he absorbed the contents of the post.
“I’m sitting in the Oval, and his knuckles turn white,” Cruz recalled, noting that Trump was extremely angry and that the meeting over school choice effectively ended at that point.
The senator joked that he learned “some curse words” he had not previously known, underlining just how intense Trump’s reaction was in that moment.
Harp, who joined Trump’s orbit in 2022 after working as an anchor and host at One America News Network, has been widely referred to as the president’s “human printer” due to her reported practice of bringing him printed news stories and social media posts.
Cruz noted that Harp’s role has attracted significant attention and questions about her level of influence over the information Trump receives on a daily basis.
Musk had previously been one of Trump’s most prominent allies and played a central role in the administration’s efforts to cut federal spending through the Department of Government Efficiency.
Their relationship deteriorated sharply and publicly in June 2025, with both men trading increasingly hostile accusations before the feud eventually subsided.
Cruz, who described himself as a friend of both men, said he was relieved they ultimately repaired their relationship, calling the moment he witnessed in the Oval Office like “a hand grenade thrown in the middle of everything.”
“It was not good for America to have the two of them battling,” Cruz said, reflecting on what he characterized as one of the most turbulent moments he had personally witnessed inside the White House.
