President Donald Trump has rated tech billionaire Elon Musk’s intelligence, saying that his frenemy has “a little problem.”
Trump hosted a rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, Wednesday to campaign for Congressman Andy Biggs, who is running against Democratic incumbent Katie Hobbs for governor in the Grand Canyon State.
The president bashed Hobbs, calling her “horrible” and a “dumb person.” He then contrasted Hobbs’ intelligence with that of Musk, who founded the electric car company Tesla, rocket manufacturer SpaceX and artificial intelligence startup xAI.
“I know smart people. I deal from Elon [Musk] down to Katie [Hobbs],” Trump said.
But then the president threw in a slight jab: “Elon’s 80 percent super genius — and 20 percent he got a little problem, I always tell him. He’s a great guy, though.”
Trump and Musk have had a tumultuous relationship. Musk stumped for Trump in the 2024 election and financially backed his campaign.
When Trump returned to the White House for a second term, he brought Musk with him. The tech tycoon led the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, for a couple of months, gutting federal agencies in the name of reducing government waste.
In May 2025, Musk left the White House after he publicly criticized Trump’s massive “big, beautiful” spending bill.
Since the start of July, Musk has donated more than $276 million to help Republican candidates in November’s midterm elections, The New York Times first revealed Monday.
About $158 million of Musk’s money went to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC backing GOP Senate candidates in the midterms, according to figures provided by the billionaire’s team.
![‘I know smart people. I deal from Elon [Musk] down to Katie [Hobbs],’ Trump, while campaigning for Hobbs ’ Republican opponent, congressman Andy Biggs, in Bullhead City Wednesday (Getty Images)](https://imgproxy.newswav.com/1000x0,q50=/https://static.independent.co.uk/2026/10/14/21/32/GettyImages-2300232576.jpg)
Arizona is the latest stop on Trump’s campaign tour as he hopes to boost Republicans' chances in the midterms.
While the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms, GOP candidates are even struggling in red states like Texas and Ohio.
Trump has called on his supporters to go to the polls and “pretend that I’m on the ballot,” all while facing his own record-low approval ratings.
A whopping 65 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s job as president, while just 32 percent approved in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. The administration has been dogged by an unpopular war in Iran, a high cost of living and an immigration crackdown that critics have called too aggressive.
Trump was in Bullead City Wednesday to stump for Biggs and congressional candidates Mark Lamb and Abe Hamadeh.
“We gotta elect this guy,” Trump said of Biggs Wednesday. “I'm here to help him and some of your great congressmen.”
Hobbs had a nearly 17-point lead over Biggs, 50.5 to 33.7 percent, in a newly released poll from HighGround Public Affairs consultants.
At Wednesday’s rally, Trump also boasted about his Qatari-gifted Boeing 747 jet worth about $400 million that he has been criticized for accepting.
“When you’re given gifts, you take them, right?” Trump told the crowd about the new Air Force One that he flew in on. “When they give you a 747, you say two words — thank you.”
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