's public fallout with US President
Donald Trump continued, the tech billionaire posted a poll on X asking his more than 200 million followers whether it was time to create a new political party that “actually represents the 80% in the middle.” More than 400,000 people have already responded, with 83.4 percent in favor of creating a third, middle party.In response to a social media post by a prominent conservative suggesting Republicans may need to choose between him and Trump, Elon Musk replied, “Just some food for thought as they consider this: Trump has 3.5 years left as President — I’ll be around for 40+ more.” Musk also criticized Trump for being ungrateful, pointing out that he had spent hundreds of millions of dollars to support Trump’s re-election.
"It is time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle," Elon Musk asked as he scorched Donald Trump over the Big, Beautiful Bill.
An intense public feud erupted on Thursday between President Donald Trump and his one-time ally, billionaire Elon Musk, with an argument about Trump’s massive tax and domestic policy bill raging across social media and in the Oval Office. Tensions started rising on Tuesday, when Musk blasted what Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill” as a “disgusting abomination,” surprising Republican leaders.
But Musk escalated the fight on Thursday when he began sharing years-old comments from Trump and other Republican lawmakers raising concerns about US government spending and the deficit.
But it was only last year when the tech mogul formally endorsed Trump on July 13, 2024, moments after Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Musk had spent nearly $200m to elect Trump to a second term in 2024.
Before Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term, Musk used his political influence in December 2024 to whip up outrage against a bipartisan spending bill and torpedo it days before a potential government shutdown. Days after his successful election, Trump responded by appointing Musk to lead a newly created government cutting agency, called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Trump-Musk bromance over: The messiest breakup of the yearMusk rapidly rose to become a key figure in Trump’s inner circle, attending Cabinet meetings and even accompanying the president on Air Force One with his young son. Less than a month into his role in government, Musk declared on X: “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.”
Under their joint leadership, DOGE quickly amassed significant influence within the Trump administration, leading to sweeping staff cuts and the near-dismantling of several federal agencies. In February, Musk and Trump appeared together in the Oval Office — Musk’s son at his side — to field questions from the press.
Trump continued to support Elon Musk even as some of Musk’s initiatives stirred controversy. In late February, a DOGE-endorsed email asking federal employees to list their weekly accomplishments caused confusion across several agencies. Days later, during a Cabinet meeting, Trump praised Musk as "tremendously successful" and claimed the public was "thrilled" with his work. He also warned that federal workers who hadn’t replied to the email were “on the bubble.”
'Without me, Trump would have lost election': Elon Musk launches all-out attack on US President
When protests erupted against Tesla by Trump critics, the president showed public support for Musk by stepping into a Tesla parked on the White House South Lawn in March, calling it “beautiful.” Just days earlier, Trump had posted on Truth Social that he would "buy a brand new Tesla" to support Musk, whom he described as "doing a FANTASTIC JOB."
Tensions flared in April when Musk clashed with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro over Trump’s tariff policy. After Navarro accused Tesla of depending on “cheap foreign parts,” Musk fired back, calling him “dumber than a sack of bricks.” The White House stayed neutral, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt brushing it off: “Boys will be boys.”
At a Cabinet meeting in late April, Trump again praised and thanked Musk, while hinting that Musk’s role in government may soon wrap up.
“You’re invited to stay as long as you want. At some point, he wants to get back home to his cars,” Trump said, prompting a round of applause for the billionaire.
Trump says 'very disappointed' with Elon Musk after billionaire's ire over President's ‘big beautiful bill’
Just days before concluding his role with the federal government, Elon Musk publicly criticized a major legislative package central to former President Trump's second-term agenda. Speaking to CBS News Sunday Morning, Musk expressed his “disappointment” over the bill’s cost. The proposal includes an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, increased funding for border security, new work requirements for Medicaid recipients, and the rollback of clean energy tax credits.
In the following days, Musk escalated his criticism of the legislation Mr. Trump has dubbed a "big, beautiful bill," calling it a "disgusting abomination" in a lengthy early June tirade on his social media platform. The insults continued through the week, reaching a climax on June 5 with Trump threatening to cancel Musk's lucrative government contracts and Musk claiming that Mr. Trump could not have won the presidency without him.
Musk said he would shut down a SpaceX program that NASA relies on to transport astronauts — before later backtracking — and seemed to endorse an X post calling for Trump to be impeached. Musk also warned Republican lawmakers: "Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years."
During the back-and-forth, Mr. Trump claimed that he asked Musk to leave his administration and upset him with a provision in the budget bill that would end tax credits for electric vehicles.
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"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.
Musk then alleged that Trump's name appeared in the files related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by suicide in federal custody in 2019 while facing charges of sex trafficking.
"@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public," Musk wrote. "Have a nice day, DJT!"
In response to the spat, Leavitt called it an "unfortunate episode from Elon."
