Donald Trump’s signature “one Big Beautiful Bill” has precipitated an epic fallout between the US President and his former ally, billionaire Elon Musk.
Trump’s relationship with his former adviser deteriorated in an extraordinary social media feud as tensions over the Republican spending bill burst into public view as both men used their respective platforms, X and Truth Social, to exchange criticisms.
The direct shots at Trump were the latest twist in the public showdown over a Republican spending bill that Musk had criticized.
Trump and Musk had been careful not to hit each other directly, but on Thursday the pair discarded restraint as the feud escalated on their respective social media platforms.
It was a bizarre drama that served to underscore the degree to which Trump and Musk’s relationship has been one of mutual convenience, despite the White House claiming for months that they were ideologically aligned.
For weeks, Musk has complained about the budget bill, and used the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimating the bill would add $2.4tn to the deficit over the next decade as an opening to condemn the legislation as a “disgusting abomination.”
On Thursday, Trump appeared to finally have had enough of Musk’s complaints.
Speaking in the Oval Office as the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, looked on in bemusement, Trump said, “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”
Trump then ratcheted up his barbs against Musk, accusing him of turning against the bill solely out of self-interest, as the bill did not benefit Tesla, Musk’s electronic vehicle company. Trump also pulled the nomination of Musk’s preferred candidate to lead NASA.
“He knew every aspect of this bill. He knew it better than almost anybody, and he never had a problem until right after he left…I’m very disappointed with Elon.”
Donald Trump
Soon after Musk posted on X denying Trump’s statement, beginning a flurry of posts that stepped up his feud with the President.
He accused the US President of lying about the bill, stating, “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!”
He accused Trump of being ungrateful for the millions he spent to get him elected.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude.”
Donald Trump
But then Trump posted on Truth Social that he had fired Musk from his role as a special adviser because he was “wearing thin” at the White House, and Musk responded, “Such an obvious lie. So sad.”
Musk taking credit for Trump’s election win initially threatened to be the touchpoint for their relationship, given Trump had made a point to say that Musk’s contributions had no effect on him winning the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Musk spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Trump’s re-election campaign through his specially created America Pac, which shouldered a large portion of Trump’s door-knocking campaign, although the actual impact of that ground-game effort is unclear.
Musk Calls For Trump’s Impeachment
Moreover, Elon Musk called for Donald Trump’s impeachment.
He stated that Vice President, JD Vance should replace Trump, warning that Trump’s global tariffs would “cause a recession in the second half of this year.”
Musk also mocked Trump’s connections to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying on X that the reason the Trump administration had not released the files into Epstein was because they implicated the President.
Musk made this comment after Trump threatened to cut subsidies for Musk’s companies as it would save “billions.” The White House called the assertions an “unfortunate episode.”
The spectacular blowout between Trump and Musk sent Tesla shares into free fall. They dropped by about 14.2% on Thursday at market close, wiping roughly $152bn off the value of the company.
The decline in Tesla’s share price on Thursday knocked about $8.73bn off Musk’s total net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The reported $152bn drop also decreased the value of the company to roughly $900bn.
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