- Friday, June 13, 2025
The breakup could reshape both men’s futures. For Trump, losing Musk could complicate fundraising for the midterm elections. For Musk, it could invite scrutiny of his business practices
By: India Weekly
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s political marriage unravelled into a fiery war of words Thursday, with Trump threatening to strip Musk of his huge government contracts in revenge.
The breakup could reshape both men’s futures. For Trump, losing Musk’s backing threatens his growing influence among tech donors, social media audiences, and younger male voters — key groups that may now be harder to reach.
It could also complicate fundraising ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
For Musk, the stakes are potentially even higher.
The break risks intensified scrutiny of his business practices that could jeopardize government contracts and invite regulatory probes, which might threaten his companies’ profits.
Trump said in a televised Oval Office address that he was “very disappointed” after his former aide and top donor criticized his “big, beautiful” spending bill.
The battle then shifted to social media with the pair hurled insults at each other – with Musk even posting, without proof, that Trump was referenced in government documents on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The row could have major political and economic fallout, as shares in Musk’s Tesla car company plunged and the South African-born tech tycoon vowed that he would end a critical US spaceship program.
Many had doubted the longevity of the relationship between the world’s richest man and the most powerful man – but the speed of the meltdown took Washington by surprise.
When Trump met privately with White House officials on Wednesday, there was little to suggest that he was close to a public break with Elon Musk, the billionaire who helped him win a second term in office.
Two White House officials familiar with the matter said Trump expressed confusion and frustration in the meeting about Musk’s attacks on his sweeping tax and spending bill.
But he held back, the officials said, because he wanted to preserve Musk’s political and financial support ahead of the midterm elections.
By Thursday afternoon, Trump’s mood had shifted. He had not spoken to Musk since the attacks began and was fuming over what one White House aide described as a “completely batshit” tirade by the Tesla CEO on X, his social media platform.
“I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz looked on silently.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”
A hurt-sounding Trump, 78, noted in a 10-minute diatribe that it had been only a week since he hosted a grand farewell for Musk as he left the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Trump later called Musk “crazy” and insisted he had asked the tycoon to leave because he was “wearing thin.”
Musk hit back in real time on his X social media platform and said it might be time to create a new political party and endorsed a post on X from Ian Miles Cheong, a prominent Musk supporter and right-wing activist, calling for Trump’s impeachment.
Musk, who was Trump’s biggest campaign donor to the tune of $300 million, separately claimed the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without his support and slammed Trump for “ingratitude.”
Time to drop the really big bomb:@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.
Have a nice day, DJT!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
As the spat got increasingly vindictive, Musk also posted that Trump “is in the Epstein files,” referring to US government documents on Epstein, whose 2019 jail cell suicide, while awaiting trial, sparked a major conspiracy theory.
“Have a nice day, DJT!” added Musk.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told AFP that Musk’s Epstein tweet “is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ because it does not include the policies he wanted.”
Musk replied “yes” to a post suggesting Trump should be impeached, and blasted Trump’s global tariffs for risking a recession.
Trump finally suggested hitting the “crazy” entrepreneur where it hurts, threatening Musk’s multibillion-dollar government contracts including for launching rockets and for the use of the Starlink satellite service.
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Again Musk fired back, with the SpaceX chief saying he would begin “decommissioning” his company’s Dragon spacecraft – vital for ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station – in response.
He later appeared to walk that back, replying to a user on Twitter: “OK, we won’t decommission Dragon,” though his tone was unclear.
When the crossfire finally relented after several astonishing hours, Tesla had seen more than $100 billion wiped off the company’s value.
Trump and Musk’s whirlwind relationship had initially blossomed, with the president backing DOGE’s cost-cutting rampage through the US government and the tycoon sleeping over at the White House and traveling on Air Force One.
But the 53-year-old ultimately lasted just four months on the job, becoming increasingly disillusioned with the slow pace of change and clashing with some of Trump’s cabinet members.
However, the parting was civil. Trump hosted a farewell for Musk and declared that “Elon is really not leaving.”
Now he had not only left but had turned into a top critic.
The two men had initially kept tensions over Trump’s tax and spending mega-bill relatively civil – until Musk described the centerpiece of Trump’s domestic policy agenda for his second term, as an “abomination” because he says it will increase the US deficit.
Washington will now intently watch the fallout from the row.
A White House official said Musk’s real-time response to Trump’s remarks “caught the president and the entire West Wing off guard.”
Musk did not respond to emails seeking comment about the downturn in relations. His super PAC spending group, America PAC, and spokeswoman Katie Miller did not respond to calls and texts requesting comment.
Trump ally Steve Bannon – a vocal opponent of Musk – meanwhile called for the tycoon to be deported, the New York Times reported.
Some of Musk’s friends and associates were stunned by the fallout, with a number of them only recently expressing confidence that the partnership would endure, according to two other sources familiar with the dynamics.
The split had been simmering for weeks, said the first two White House officials, but the breaking point was over personnel: Trump’s decision to pull his nomination of Jared Isaacman, Musk’s hand-picked candidate to be NASA administrator.
“He was not happy” about Isaacman, one of the White House officials said of Musk.
Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and close Musk ally, was seen as key to advancing Musk’s vision for space exploration and commercial space ventures.
After his nomination was scuttled, Isaacman posted on X: “I am incredibly grateful to President Trump, the Senate and all those who supported me.”
The move was viewed within the administration as a direct snub to Musk, the two officials said, signaling a loss of political clout and deepening the rift between him and Trump’s team.
Before the Isaacman episode, top White House aides behind the scenes had already begun limiting Musk’s influence — quietly walking back his authority over staffing and budget decisions. Trump himself reinforced that message in early March, telling his cabinet that department secretaries, not Musk, had the final say over agency operations.
