Elon Musk agrees that Trump 'screwed' him after joining White House council

Evan Vucci / AP

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk agrees that Trump "screwed" him after the Tesla CEO joined the White House economic advisory council. Musk left the council in 2017 after Trump pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accord.
• "I did my absolute best," Musk said in a new interview for the Recode Decode podcast.
• While he was on the council, Musk defended his decision to join, arguing that he attempted to lobby in favor of immigrants and climate change policy.

Elon Musk once again defended his choice to join Trump's economic advisory council in an interview with Recode's Kara Swisher for the Recode Decode podcast. The Tesla CEO said it was "still worth trying" to join the council and argue in favor of climate change policy, adding that "I did my absolute best."

Musk has defended this choice in the past - however, this time he admitted that he might have gotten a raw deal.

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"I said you shouldn't go 'cause he was gonna screw you, remember?" Swisher asked.

"Well, you were right," Musk responded.

Musk joined the council shortly after Trump's inauguration, but left in mid-2017 after Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord. During his time on the council, Musk defended his position, arguing that he attempted to lobby in favor of immigrants and climate change policy.

Read more: Elon Musk defends his position on President Trump's advisory council

In the Recode interview, Musk admitted that it was "unlikely" that his efforts on the council would be effective, but it was "worth a shot."

"If I stayed on the councils it would be saying (the Paris Climate Accord) wasn't important, but I think it's super important," Musk said in a 2017, speaking to US governors. "The country needs to keep its word. There's just no way I could stay on after that."

When Swisher asked Musk if he would join the council again, he was unsure.

"I don't know," Musk said. "Are there councils?"

Click here to listen to Musk's whole interview with Recode's Kara Swisher.

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