Trump and Musk: Explosive row engulfs Washington
The relationship between US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk has descended into threats, abuse and accusations.
A disagreement over the merits of Trump’s tax and spending legislation has turned into a dramatic feud, with Trump saying he was “surprised” at Musk’s criticism of his “big, beautiful” bill.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump told reporters in the White House on Thursday after the Tesla-founder ramped up his criticism the President’s economic agenda, describing the bill – currently working its way through congress – as a “disgusting abomination”.
Trump claimed that Musk was angered by the removal of subsidies for electric vehicles, which could affect Tesla. Musk denied this was the case and said his opposition to the bill was down to its impact on US government debt.
As the argument erupted across social media, Musk posted on X: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”
“Such ingratitude,” he added.
In response to Musk’s criticism, the President posted on his Truth Social platform: “The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon’s governmental subsidies and contracts.”
Tesla shares take a pounding
In response to Trump’s post, Musk said: “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately”. Dragon is a Musk-backed Nasa space programme.
As the row grew on Thursday night, Tesla’s share price took a pounding, falling nearly 15 per cent.
Musk escalated the row by claiming that Trump appears in unreleased files held by the government related to late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He also used his X account to endorse calls for Trump to be impeached.
The billionaire also claimed that Trump’s tariffs will “cause a recession in the second half of this year”.
The explosive falling out spread across Washington on Thursday night, with Steve Bannon, a key supporter of Trump, calling for Elon Musk to be deported.
“They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,” he said in a phone interview with The New York Times.