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What once resembled an alliance of convenience between President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk has morphed into a full-blown feud, erupting this week into a volley of insults and policy disagreements aired out across rival social media platforms.
The dispute escalated Thursday after Musk sharply condemned the president’s flagship spending bill, labelling it a fiscal disaster. The criticism, shared on Musk’s platform X, signaled a dramatic departure from the supportive posture the Tesla and SpaceX CEO had previously maintained toward the Trump administration.
Trump, currently serving his second term in the White House, responded with frustration. Speaking at a joint press briefing with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, he said he was “disappointed” in Musk’s public attacks, hinting the falling-out might mark the end of their previously strong rapport.
Musk didn’t hold back. “Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” he wrote on X, accusing the president of overlooking the support, including a reported $290 million, that Musk had directed toward Trump’s 2024 re-election efforts. He also posted that Trump’s signature legislation was filled with “disgusting pork” and called on Americans to lobby their representatives to reject it.
At the heart of the dispute lies the administration’s ambitious tax and spending proposal, which passed in the House last month and awaits Senate approval. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill could expand the national debt by $2.4 trillion over the next decade and lead to a reduction in publicly funded health insurance coverage for nearly 11 million people.
While Trump defended the plan, saying it was necessary for economic revitalization, Musk argued it prioritized politically motivated expenditures over financial prudence. The president suggested Musk’s outburst was motivated by provisions that scale back subsidies for electric vehicles, a move likely to impact Tesla.
Musk rejected that assertion. “Leave the EV and solar cuts in,” he wrote. “But take out the mountain of disgusting pork.” He insisted the issue was broader: irresponsible government spending and a lack of fairness, especially when fossil fuel subsidies remained untouched.
Musk had briefly served in Trump’s cabinet as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), where he led cost-cutting measures, including the shuttering of entire agencies like USAID. Though Doge claimed $180 billion in savings, that figure remains disputed and far short of Musk’s ambitious $2 trillion target.
The public spat continued with Trump posting on Truth Social that Musk had “just went CRAZY,” suggesting the government could save billions by cancelling Musk’s federal contracts and subsidies. Musk responded by threatening, then walking back, a plan to retire SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which services the International Space Station.
Tesla shares plummeted 14% in the hours following the row.
The fight veered into even more controversial territory when Musk amplified unverified claims suggesting Trump’s name appears in unreleased files linked to the late Jeffrey Epstein. Trump’s aides swiftly dismissed the insinuation, and the White House press secretary called Musk’s comments “unfortunate and misleading.”
Even as the clash deepened, signs emerged that both camps might be seeking a path to reconciliation. A scheduled phone call between the two was reported by Politico, and Musk responded affirmatively to a third-party appeal urging peace.
But the cracks are hard to ignore. Musk went so far as to float the idea of a new centrist political party, saying the country needs representation for the “80% in the middle.”
What began as an influential political partnership, marked by shared interests and billions in mutual benefit, has devolved into a very public test of wills. Whether they find common ground again remains to be seen. For now, the president and the billionaire appear locked in a battle neither is eager to concede.
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