Topline
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s months-long friendship continued to devolve in spectacular fashion this week as the world’s richest man and the world’s most powerful man engaged in a brutal back-and-forth on their respective social media platforms and beyond.
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the ... More
Musk, in his first direct attack on Trump amid a days-long rant against Trump’s signature policy bill, reposted a 2013 tweet from Trump that said he was in disbelief and “embarrassed” Republicans were extending the debt ceiling, captioning the repost “wise words,” after Trump said Wednesday the debt limit should be “entirely scrapped” as a provision of the bill, which would raise the debt ceiling ahead of its expected expiration date in August.
Trump, making his first comments on Musk’s criticism of his bill during an Oval Office press conference, insinuated the Tesla CEO opposes his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” because he is “upset” the electric vehicle tax credit was removed, adding he’s not sure he’ll remain friends with Musk and alleging Musk “knew the inner workings of the bill.”
Trump also suggested Musk is suffering from what he refers to as “Trump derangement syndrome,” which Trump claims happens when people leave the administration and turn on the president.
Musk said he didn’t turn on the bill after the EV tax credit was removed: “False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” Musk tweeted.
Musk said “without me,” Trump would have lost the election, Democrats would control the House, and Republicans would have a more narrow majority in the Senate, after Musk donated more than $250 million toward Trump’s campaign, accusing Trump in a subsequent tweet of “such ingratitude.”
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump wrote, adding, “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Trump said Musk was “wearing thin” at the White House and he “asked him to leave,” then he “just went CRAZY!” when the EV tax credit was removed from the bill.
Musk said it’s “such an obvious lie” and “so sad” Trump asked him to leave and that he was upset over the EV tax credit.
Musk alleged on X, without evidence, the reason the White House has yet to fully release the “Epstein files” detailing the FBI’s investigation into the late, disgraced former financier Jeffrey Epstein is because Trump is implicated in them.
Musk said he would decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft used by NASA to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.
Musk endorsed one user’s suggestion that Trump be impeached, writing “Yes” in response to an X user who wrote “President vs. Elon. Who wins? My money’s on Elon. . . Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him.”
Musk said Trump’s tariffs will trigger a recession in the second half of the year, after remaining mostly reserved in his previous criticism of the tariffs.
Trump downplayed his public falling out with Musk to Politico, telling the outlet “oh it’s okay,” as White House officials were reportedly working to de-escalate the situation and set up a call between Musk and Trump.
Musk appeared to backtrack on his earlier threat to decommission the SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft after a follower urged him not to do so, prompting the billionaire to respond “Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”
Musk signaled he is willing to de-escalate his fight with Trump after hedge-fund billionaire Bill Ackman—who is both a Trump supporter and a Musk ally—tweeted that both of them “should make peace for the benefit of our great country...We are much stronger together than apart.” Musk replied: “You’re not wrong.”
The billionaire later reposted a follower who said “Republicans will likely lose the House in 2026.”
Despite signals of a truce, Musk continued to attack the president’s allies, such as Steve Bannon, and Trump’s signature spending bill.
The price of Tesla’s shares, which plummeted 14% on Thursday amid the clash, is up around 4.4% in premarket trading on Friday morning, after Musk signaled he is open to a truce with Trump.
Trump told ABC News in a Friday morning interview he was “not particularly” interested in talking to Musk right now, alleging Musk has “lost his mind.”
Trump is “thinking about” selling the Tesla Model S he bought in March, when he showcased the purchase to the media on the White House driveway in a public show of support for Musk, a senior White House official told Forbes, though The New York Times, also citing an unnamed White House source, reported the car is already for sale.
Otherwise, the Musk-Trump feud appeared to simmer in public as of Friday afternoon, with some speculation they could mend fences in a matter of days.
Musk deleted his tweet suggesting Trump was in the Epstein files and removed his other post endorsing the impeachment of the president—though a quote tweet expressing skepticism about Trump and Epstein’s alleged links was still up as of Saturday morning, as well as Musk’s tweet claiming Trump would have lost the election without him.
Musk reposted Trump and Vance’s criticism of protesters in Los Angeles, including a Trump Truth Social post blasting California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for opposing the deployment of National Guard troops to the protest scene.
“I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week,” Musk wrote on X. “They went too far.”
Trump told the New York Post, “I thought it was very nice that he did that,” referring to Musk’s comments without explicitly saying if he accepted the billionaire’s apology, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters later Wednesday Trump is “appreciative”of the statement.
A near three-week truce unravels as Musk tears into Trump’s spending bill, writing the package is “utterly insane and destructive.”
The centibillionaire re-platforms his idea of starting a new political party and vows to campaign against members Congress who supported the bill after supporting Musk’s vision of austerity.
The Musk-Trump beef again gets ugly: Trump responds to Musk’s criticism with his own social media fireworks, calling for the Musk-invented Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to “take a good, hard, look” at the government subsidies Musk’s companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, receive.
“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” wrote Trump on his Truth Social platform.
Trump told reporters he’ll “take a look” at deporting Musk, a South African-born, naturalized U.S. citizen.
Musk makes a relatively measured response to Trump, saying he’d “refrain for now” from escalating the fight before writing, “Physics sees through all lies perfectly.”
Tesla stock dives more than 5% as the company’s top executive and the U.S.’ chief executive butted heads, translated to a $12 billion drop in Musk’s net worth.
Musk said repeatedly last year he supports eliminating the EV tax credit—diluting Trump’s argument he only opposes the bill because it gets rid of the incentive. “I think we should get rid of all credits,” Musk said in December when asked by a reporter on Capitol Hill if he supports getting rid of the electric vehicle tax credit, Politico reported. The House-passed version of the bill would phase out the $7,500 tax credit for some EV buyers by 2026.
$3.9 trillion. That’s how much the bill would add to the federal debt over the next decade, according to an estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released Saturday.
“DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” Trump said Tuesday.
Musk—who left his White House role last month—has fired off dozens of tweets this week attacking Trump’s policy bill over the amount it’s expected to add to the federal debt. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk wrote Tuesday on X in his initial post bashing the legislation, calling it a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled . . . disgusting abomination.” Musk attacked Trump directly over the bill for the first time since he began his days-long rant moments before Trump sat down with Merz by reposting the president’s 2013 tweet about the debt ceiling. In other tweets last week targeting the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Musk threatened Republicans who voted for it, warning that “in November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people” and calling for lawmakers to “KILL The BILL.” Until Trump’s comments last Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.—who shepherded the bill through the House—was the top Republican defending the legislation against Musk’s criticism. Johnson said Wednesday Trump is “not delighted that Elon did a 180.”
The bill, passed by the House in a party-line vote after last-minute revisions to appease Republican holdouts, is being negotiated by the Senate. Republican leaders have set a July 4 deadline to put the bill on Trump’s desk for signage, but GOP resistance in the upper chamber—and some expressions of regret from a few House Republicans who said they were unaware of certain provisions—threaten to delay its passage. The legislation would fulfill Trump’s key campaign promises, including an extension of his 2017 tax cuts, no taxes on tips and overtime and additional border security, paid for, in part, by cuts to Medicaid.
Tensions between Musk and Trump were palpable during the joint press conference they held May 30 to mark Musk’s last day leading the Department of Government Efficiency. While the two praised each other, their once-lighthearted rapport appeared stiff and uneasy. Musk in particular appeared to be in an odd mood, prompting social media users to claim he was “tweaking out,” suggesting he may have been under the influence of drugs, as the press conference was held hours after a New York Times report alleging Musk engaged in heavy drug use while he campaigned for Trump last year. Musk also sported a black eye during the press conference, which the Tesla CEO claimed he got from his five-year-old son.
‘KILL The BILL’: Musk Deepens Rant Against Trump’s Signature Policy Legislation (Forbes)
Musk Calls For Ending Electric Vehicle Tax Credit—Which Could Help Tesla (Forbes)
Musk Cuts Off Reporter Asking About Drug Use Allegations—Including Ketamine, Ecstasy And Adderall (Forbes)