Inside An extraordinary public feud between President Donald J. Trump and the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk intensified sharply on Thursday, with Mr. Trump threatening Mr. Musk’s business empire and Mr. Musk swiftly retaliating by claiming he was crucial to Mr. Trump’s election victory. The high-profile spat underscored the volatile nature of their relationship and sent ripples through financial markets.
A Partnership Turns Acrimonious
The dispute ignited when Mr. Musk, once an ally and advisor to the Trump administration, publicly criticized Mr. Trump’s “massive tax and spending cuts package.” Speaking from the Oval Office, Mr. Trump expressed profound “disappointment” in Mr. Musk, stating, “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”
Later, on Truth Social, Mr. Trump directly threatened Mr. Musk’s extensive business interests. “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Mr. Trump wrote. Such a move could significantly impact companies like Tesla and SpaceX, which have benefited from substantial federal contracts and subsidies. NASA alone has reportedly invested over $15 billion into SpaceX over decades.
The market responded quickly, with Tesla shares plummeting 15% on Thursday afternoon, wiping more than $150 billion off the company’s market value, which had begun the day at nearly $1.1 trillion. The selloff also erased a considerable portion of Mr. Musk’s personal net worth.
Musk Fires Back, Claims Election Influence
Mr. Musk, a prolific user of his social media platform X, rapidly countered Mr. Trump’s statements. Responding to the threat of terminated contracts, he wrote, “This just gets better and better,” adding, “Go ahead, make my day…” He also explicitly denied Mr. Trump’s claim that he was aware of the intricacies of the “big beautiful bill” during its drafting. “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!” Mr. Musk asserted.
He went further, asserting his indispensable role in Mr. Trump’s 2024 election victory. “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Mr. Musk stated in a post. Federal Election Commission filings indicate Mr. Musk spent more than $290 million on the 2024 election, positioning him among the largest political donors, rivaled by only a handful of others. He reportedly channeled over $11 million into his America PAC for “petition incentives,” including a $1 million giveaway for registered voters.
Mr. Trump, in another social media post, claimed he had asked Mr. Musk to leave the White House and attributed Mr. Musk’s criticism to resentment over policy changes. “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY,” the president wrote. (It should be noted there has been no federal mandate prohibiting Americans from buying gasoline-powered cars.)
Political Fallout and Future Ambitions
Mr. Musk further fueled speculation about his political ambitions by polling his more than 220 million followers on X, asking, “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?”
Republican senators, evidently cautious of being drawn into the high-profile inside spat, largely inside sought to distance themselves. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana famously quipped, “Ma’am, I have a rule. I inside never get between a dog and a fire hydrant.” Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma stated, “I’m not standing in the middle of that fight.” Senator Todd Young of Indiana dismissed it as “inside baseball stuff.”
The public exchange underscored inside a deepening rift between two powerful figures known for their combative styles and direct communication, inside highlighting the unpredictable nature inside of political alliances in the current landscape.
