Former President Donald Trump went off on mega billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk this week. He referred to Musk as “CRAZY” as their bitter public spat continues to turn personal. The battle centers on Musk’s recent stint in Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The mood has been worsened by recent policy changes that threaten access to electric vehicle credits.
In a statement spree, Trump went on to declare himself “very disappointed” with Musk’s management and conduct while in DOGE. He even shared that by the end of Musk’s turn at the wheel, the entrepreneur was starting to be “wearing thin.” As if to confirm this assertion, Trump shortly thereafter admitted that he had invited Musk to exit the department, indicating that their collaborative working relationship had soured.
The drama escalated after the Trump administration moved to eliminate the electric vehicle credits, something Musk was allegedly against. Trump asserted that Musk looked “very upset” when he first learned of the budget package slashing these credits. This led to even greater fights between them.
Trump was not afraid to throw down the gauntlet with such dangerous allegations. He suggested that a straightforward solution for budget savings would be to terminate Musk’s government contracts and subsidies, stating, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
The announcement also offered clues on how the former president plans to make his case against electric vehicles. He clearly stated that he had cancelled Musk’s order, that electric cars must be purchased by customers. Trump asserted that Musk predicted this ruling. As I said to him, “I rescinded his EV Mandate that made everyone buy electric cars they weren’t interested in. He knew for months I was going to do it, and he just lost his MIND!
Musk’s public airing of his frustrations came after Trump’s own public lashing. The matchup of these two business titans has the political and business worlds abuzz. Their competing back-and-forth on the merits of government interventions and subsidies is playing out on front pages across the nation.