Jan 22 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) CEO Jamie

Dimon and Tesla chief Elon Musk, once adversaries in a

prolonged legal battle, have settled their differences, the

banker told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.

"Elon and I have hugged it out," Dimon said, while praising

Musk for running multiple companies such as Tesla, SpaceX and

Neuralink.

The biggest U.S. lender had sued Tesla in 2021, kicking off

a drawn-out dispute that was at least in part tied to Musk's

infamous 2018 tweet where he said he had "funding secured" to

take the EV giant private, only to abandon that plan a few weeks

later.

Tesla countersued the bank in 2023, but both the companies

dropped their claims against each other in November last year.

Dimon also supported the Musk-led initiative to cut what the

Trump administration views as government excesses.

Dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, or "DOGE",

the group is expected to carry out dramatic cuts to the U.S.

government and has goals of eliminating entire federal agencies

and cutting government jobs. The group has attracted lawsuits

challenging its operations.