Elon Musk and Donald Trump are currently embroiled in a deeply petty high-profile public spat. Yet the conflicting legal interpretations of their agenda is sending tremors through political and financial worlds. Musk’s threats that he would dump the Dragon spacecraft added gunpowder to the confrontation. Even earlier this year, that same spacecraft successfully returned astronauts home from the International Space Station. At first, Musk had warned that he might keep the spacecraft retired, but he walked back the threat only hours later.
The feud reached new heights when Musk called for the impeachment of Trump, recommending that JD Vance be named as his successor. Further he alleged that Trump’s global tariffs would cause a recession in the second half of the year. Furthermore, Musk accused the Trump administration of withholding files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, asserting that these files implicated Trump himself.
Musk wants credit for putting Donald Trump into the White House. He claims that without his advocacy, Trump would have “lost the election.” His disappointment in Trump was on display as well, as he bemoaned “such ingratitude” shown to him. The rivalry quickly heated up when Musk took to X—formerly Twitter—to refute the claims made by Trump. This action prompted the firestorm of retaliatory posts that fanned the flames of their Twitter war.
The impact of this war has had above all other consequences, significant fiscal impacts. The confrontation led to a nearly $15 billion decline in Tesla’s market value. By market close on Thursday, the price had crashed by nearly 14.2%. This decline erased about $152 billion of corporate value, leaving Tesla worth about $900 billion. As a direct result, Musk’s net worth dropped by nearly $8.73 billion.
After the announcement, Trump held a press conference where he expressed his frustration with Musk. He reminded everyone that Musk used to support all of his initiatives.
“He knew every aspect of this bill. He knew it better than almost anybody, and he never had a problem until right after he left. … He said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn’t said bad about me personally, but I’m sure that’ll be next, but I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.” – Donald Trump
The chaos has been more than met with the wide-eyed horror of political pundits. Steve Bannon went so far as to claim that there was a justification for deporting Musk, even though he is a U.S. citizen.