The once-warm relationship between U.S. President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk has dramatically deteriorated, erupting into a public war of words marked by personal insults, policy clashes, and economic fallout.
The rift widened this week after Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, launched a sustained campaign against President Trump’s proposed federal spending bill — a key piece of legislation championed by the White House.
Musk has publicly criticized the bill for what he called “irresponsible waste,” lobbying lawmakers to reject it.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday during a meeting with German Chancellor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, President Trump addressed the tensions directly.
“I’m very disappointed in Elon,” he told reporters, accusing Musk of acting in bad faith.
In response, Musk took to his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), where he issued a series of pointed attacks, including an unsubstantiated claim that Trump may be implicated in unreleased documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump fired back, claiming Musk “went CRAZY” and had been asked to leave a White House advisory role. The president further threatened to review and potentially sever government contracts with Musk’s companies, which include multi-billion dollar agreements related to defense and space exploration.
The feud appears to have spooked investors. Tesla shares dropped by 14% this week, wiping billions off the company’s market value and pushing the electric vehicle manufacturer below the $1 trillion mark.
Despite the escalating rhetoric, Musk has since backtracked on an earlier statement suggesting he would decommission a critical SpaceX spacecraft used by NASA to transport U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station.
The high-profile fallout comes just days after Musk officially stepped down from a government advisory role, where he had been leading a task force to identify and eliminate excessive federal spending — informally dubbed “Project Doge.”
Political analysts say the rupture between the world’s most powerful political leader and its wealthiest entrepreneur could have far-reaching implications, particularly in the areas of clean energy, space policy, and defense.
The White House has not yet confirmed whether any formal action will be taken against Musk’s companies.
Source: BBC
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