In a Washington full of big money and bigger personalities, it’s shaping up to be the breakup of the decade. And it’s happening for all the world to see.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, his onetime close adviser and top political benefactor, on Thursday began sparring in a bitter, public feud that could have lasting implications for the world’s richest man, the president, and the entire Republican Party.
The Buildup to the Breakup
Almost nothing seemed off limits as the two parried — Musk suggested the president should be impeached, Trump threatened Musk’s companies, and Musk even threw out allegations related to Jeffrey Epstein.
The blowup — which many had long predicted was inevitable — comes less than a week after the two stood side by side in the Oval Office highlighting their bond and fawning over each other’s efforts and talent.
But the GOP megabill, Trump’s signature legislation, shattered what many had always assumed was an alliance of convenience. And it rocketed from a relatively civil policy disagreement to a blowup threatening to derail the president’s agenda and Musk’s personal fortune.
Musk had spent three days criticizing the bill, which he called a “disgusting abomination,” and the Republicans in the House who voted for it, but Trump had largely held his tongue, though he and close aides were privately frustrated.
But by Thursday morning Trump had clearly had enough.
“Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “I don’t know if we will anymore.” He later said he was “very disappointed in Elon” and suggested Musk was suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.”
Boom.
Musk, who had shattered fundraising records when he spent nearly $300 million to help sweep Trump into the White House, swiftly hit back, saying minutes later on his social media platform X: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.” He added: “Such ingratitude.”
The explosion mushroomed from there.
The Fallout and Financial Impact
Trump — who had given Musk broad powers with little oversight as part of the Department of Government Efficiency to slash through the federal government, rooting out so-called waste, fraud and abuse — said on Truth Social, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” which are reportedly worth $38 billion.
In response to Trump’s threat, Musk said his rocket company, SpaceX, would “begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.” The U.S. government uses Dragon to transport astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.
The stock price for Tesla, which has been bolstered by billions of dollars in government subsidies, fell over 14 percent Thursday afternoon. The automaker, the source of much of Musk’s wealth, has suffered a series of financial blows during Musk’s time in the White House. Ahead of his exit, Musk attributed his departure from Washington to needing to focus on nurturing the beleaguered company.
Trump also alleged that Musk had been “wearing thin” during his time in the White House, and that he’d “asked him to leave.”
Musk retorted with a barrage of X posts of his own. “Such an obvious lie. So sad,” he said of the allegation.
Then he dropped what he called “the really big bomb.”
Trump “is in the Epstein files,” he said, referring to the records of the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “That is the real reason they have not been made public,” Musk said, adding: “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”
In February, the Department of Justice released what it called the “first phase” of documents related to the Epstein investigation, which has been a fixation of some of the president’s supporters. It has long been public that Trump — along with other prominent figures, like Bill Clinton — are referenced in documents released in court cases surrounding Epstein. But Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing linked to Epstein.
The White House did not immediately respond to Musk’s allegations.
The Policy Disputes and Personal Conflicts
Trump and Musk have been at odds over policy before — Musk, for example, slammed Trump’s sweeping tariff regime, which would damage his businesses — but the contention over the megabill laid bare a broader rupture between the two former allies.
In the White House on Thursday, Trump claimed that Musk had known “the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody” and “he had no problem with it.” But, Trump said, Musk had been “disturbed” by a part of the bill that would cut subsidies for electric vehicles, which would undermine Tesla.
Trump also said Musk had been disappointed when the White House last week pulled the nomination for Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Musk had pushed Isaacman for the role, Trump said, but the president had decided to select a different nominee because Isaacman “happened to be a Democrat, like totally Democrat.”
“Suddenly [Musk] had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out we’re going to cut the EV mandate that’s billions and billions of dollars,” Trump said.
Musk denied Trump’s claim that he knew the “inner workings” of the bill, writing in another post that it “was never shown to me even once.”
“Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,” Musk said.
