Washington D.C. U.S.- The bromance between Elon Musk and Donald Trump just crashed harder than a SpaceX prototype in a windstorm.
What began as a power alliance between the world’s richest man and the world’s most polarizing president has now combusted.
In a jaw-dropping Oval Office outburst Thursday, Trump slammed Musk for his “ingratitude” after the billionaire criticized a “big, beautiful” spending bill backed by the administration.
Trump, visibly rattled, even threatened to yank Musk’s lucrative government contracts—worth a reported $18 billion—on live TV.
And because nothing happens in a vacuum anymore, Musk clapped back instantly on X (formerly Twitter), suggesting Trump wouldn’t have won the 2024 election without him. Then came the real mic drop: “Trump is in the Epstein files,” Musk posted.
That bombshell alone would’ve been enough to melt the internet.
The clash marks a dramatic end to one of politics’ strangest alliances: a billionaire CEO with libertarian leanings and a former reality TV star turned president, who once shared Air Force One, Mar-a-Lago retreats, and headline-grabbing Oval Office photo ops. Now, it’s all insults and subpoenas.
Tesla stock took the first hit. Shares nosedived by 15% during the blowup, shedding more than $100 billion in market value. For a man who was just crowned TIME’s “Most Powerful Businessman Alive,” that’s not exactly a win. Investors clearly weren’t thrilled about Musk feuding with the guy who controls half of Tesla’s federal contracts.
The spark? A spending bill Musk had already labeled “a disgusting abomination” earlier in the week. Trump was not amused.
“I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot,” Trump said while seated next to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. Trump lamented their now-dead relationship like someone scrolling through old Instagram photos of a failed romance. “We had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”
Let’s be clear: this wasn’t just a scorned donor venting online. Musk poured $300 million into Trump’s 2024 campaign. But now he’s tossing out suggestions of launching a new political party (yes, via poll), even though he’s constitutionally barred from running for president himself.
It gets messier. The president fired back on his own social platform, Truth Social, claiming Musk had gone “crazy” over proposed cuts to electric vehicle subsidies and needed to be shown the door. “The easiest way to save money… is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump wrote. That’s not just a threat; that’s scorched-earth policy.
Musk’s stint as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—yes, named after the meme coin—lasted only four months. While he slashed jobs and foreign aid like it was a Black Friday sale, many of his lofty promises fell flat. Now, he’s out, bitter, and increasingly vocal.
And while the headlines screamed “Trump vs. Musk,” the real winner of the day was probably Germany’s Merz. He’d prepped for a grilling but wound up an awkward bystander to a soap opera starring two billionaires. He didn’t say a word as Trump unleashed his verbal barrage—perhaps wisely.
What started as an unlikely alliance is now a political feud playing out in real time. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from this fallout, it’s that in the Trump-Musk universe, loyalty has an expiration date—and it’s measured in news cycles, not months.
