Long-simmering tensions between Donald Trump and Elon Musk exploded into public view on Thursday, as the President of the United States and the world’s richest man traded insults and threats over Musk’s opposition to a sweeping tax and spending bill central to Trump’s second term agenda.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
Advertisement
Musk, who until recently had been one of Trump’s most powerful allies and biggest donors, fired back in real time on X, the social platform he owns. “Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” he wrote. “Such ingratitude.”
Soon, both Musk and Trump were attacking each other via their respective social media platforms and reaching for the powerful levers within their reach. Musk floated the idea of bankrolling a new political party and urged Republicans to pick a side. Trump responded by openly threatening to upend billions of dollars in government partnerships connected to Musk’s businesses. “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 on Truth Social. Tesla shares slipped amid the turbulence.
Musk later shared a post calling for impeaching Trump and replacing him with Vice President J.D. Vance.
Rarely has a political breakup between a President and one of his most prominent allies unfolded so swiftly—or so publicly. But their clash confirmed what had already been visible behind the scenes: a once-close alliance built on political convenience had quickly collapsed over the course of a week. Just six days earlier, Trump and Musk were exchanging compliments in the Oval Office as Musk exited his powerful position as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Now Trump is dismissing Musk, his largest benefactor in the 2024 election, as just another one of his critics suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Read more: As Musk Leaves DOGE, What Comes Next After the Billionaire’s Government Experiment?
Trump went on to suggest that he fired Musk from his role eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the government. “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave,” Trump said, which Musk labeled “such an obvious lie.” Musk’s position as a special government employee expired last Friday, the day he formally left the Trump Administration.
In response to a post on X about whose side Republicans should be on, Musk wrote, “Oh and some food for thought as they ponder this question: Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years…”
He later added, without providing evidence, that Trump is in the Epstein files, a cache of documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “That is the real reason they have not been made public,” he claimed. “Have a nice day, DJT!”
The public feud is primarily centered around Musk’s criticism of Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill,” which passed the House last month and now faces a contentious battle in the Senate. The package, a centerpiece of the President’s domestic agenda, includes across-the-board tax cuts and sweeping reductions in federal spending. It also phases out key incentives for electric vehicles—an industry on which Musk has built much of his wealth and influence through Tesla.
Musk began his public campaign against the bill on Tuesday, using X, to call the package a “disgusting abomination.” Dozens more posts attacking it followed, with Musk warning that the bill would “massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit” and urging his more than 200 million followers to pressure lawmakers to “KILL the BILL.” Adding fuel to the fire was a new Congressional Budget Office estimate released this week that found the measure would increase the deficit by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, despite containing more than $1.2 trillion in proposed spending cuts.
Read more: Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Stumbles in Senate as Musk Ramps Up Bid to ‘Kill’ It
It was a striking about face for Musk, who spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars backing Trump and other Republican candidates in the past year. Now he's threatening to put his money behind voting out anyone who supports the party's signature legislation. “In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” Musk posted.
While Trump and Musk previously exchanged public praise—Trump held a send-off ceremony for Musk in the Oval Office last Friday—the President is now dismissing Musk's criticisms as self-serving.
“He knew every aspect of this bill,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon. “He knew it better than almost anybody, and he never had a problem until right after he left.”
Trump accused Musk of being upset over the removal of electric vehicle subsidies, a key provision that had made Tesla vehicles more affordable. “He only developed the problem when he found out that we're gonna have to cut the EV mandate,” Trump said. “I know that disturbed him.”
Musk worked to refute Trump's allegations on X, asserting that "this bill was never shown to me even once," and that he was fine if "the EV/solar incentive cuts" remained in the bill. The issue, Musk insisted, was "the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill."
Trump also suggested that his break with Musk came after he withdrew the nomination of Jared Isaacman—a Musk ally and veteran private astronaut with ties to his SpaceX company—to lead NASA. The move reportedly stunned Musk, who had spent heavily to support Trump’s re-election, only to see a key ally cast aside. Trump, in turn, criticized Musk’s push for Isaacman, saying the nominee was “totally Democrat,” and suggesting he didn’t owe Musk political favors.
“Elon recommended somebody to run NASA and I didn't think it was appropriate,” Trump said Thursday. “We won, we get privileges, and one of the privileges is we don’t have to appoint a Democrat.”
Read more: Revisiting Elon Musk’s Most Controversial Moments in the White House
The President’s tone in the Oval Office on Thursday was notably subdued, a contrast to the bravado he often reserves for critics.
“People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly,” Trump said. He added: “They wake up in the morning, and the glamor is gone, and they become hostile.”
The timing of the split is politically delicate. Trump is pushing to have sweeping legislation on his desk by July 4, but it faces opposition from Democrats, and some fiscally conservative Republicans alarmed by its impact on the deficit.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, one of the Republicans threatening to vote against the bill, told TIME on Wednesday that he thinks Musk’s criticism will embolden some Republican skeptics in both the House and Senate.
Last Friday, Musk said that he hoped to continue to be a “friend and adviser to the President” after leaving the Administration.
That wish did not last even a week.
“I don’t mind Elon turning against me,” Trump posted Thursday afternoon, “but he should have done so months ago.”