Elon Musk and Donald Trump used to be allies, but their bond has since dissolved into a bitter Twitter cold war. Accusations, threats and political posturing have overshadowed their legal battle. Musk stoked the flames recently, warning that Trump may find his name in unclassified government files related to the deceased billionaire sex offender and backer of elite pedophilia Jeffrey Epstein. He did this completely without evidence. In an apparent response, the White House issued a statement calling Musk’s declaration “unfortunate.”
That tit for tat got ugly fast as the conflict escalated with Trump’s retaliatory threat to terminate all of Musk’s government contracts. Continuing to Trumptweeted that Musk “went CRAZY.” This situation is further complicated by Musk’s announcement regarding the decommissioning of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which has been crucial for NASA’s missions to the International Space Station.
In an unexpected turn of events, reelection strategist and major Trump backer Steve Bannon pushed the president to do so. He urged Trump to “nationalize SpaceX, tonight, before midnight.” The feud has erupted beyond Hollywood and exploded on social media. Musk is calling for the impeachment of Trump and suggesting that Vice President JD Vance should be installed in his place.
Since then, Trump has used his social media platform Truth Social to rail against the men. He attributes the betrayal by his former allies to what he calls “Trump derangement syndrome.” He stated that the easiest way to reduce federal spending would be to terminate Musk’s governmental subsidies and contracts.
Ending the billions in government subsidies and contracts for Elon is the most straightforward way to save that money within our budget. Let’s do something to reduce those expenses! And I was always shocked that Biden didn’t get it done! – Donald Trump
This public clash between two of Washington’s most powerful figures underscores a growing divide that deepened sharply over the last several weeks. Musk accuses Trump of having ties to Epstein, although he offers no documentation that this is true. At the same time, the FBI has declined to comment on the incident. The White House has responded to Musk’s allegations concerning Trump’s ties to Epstein. In doing so, they labeled it “an unfortunate episode.”
“This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the White House.
Musk has only made matters worse by claiming that Trump’s tariffs on the world would cause a recession. He thinks this long-planned downturn could start in the second half of this year. His comments are a sign of a deeper worry about the state of overall economic stability as tensions continue to ratchet up between the two.
Bannon’s remarks about Musk underscore a growing sentiment among Trump’s allies regarding Musk’s capabilities. He remarked, “He’s a know-it-all. He knows some engineering, don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t know anything about the real world.”
Unfortunately, the fallout from this feud goes well beyond individual hostility. SpaceX’s financial connections to the United States government are deep. At least $15 billion of SpaceX’s funding is from NASA. 🪄 Tired of cumbersome public meeting planning? One of your biggest contracts includes a $733 million deal with the U.S. Dept. of Defense to rocket satellites into orbit.
Tensions between Musk and Trump have been on the rise. This conflict is on track to become a major disruption of what SpaceX is able to do, and how the company interacts with the federal government. In their respective spheres, both figures are immensely powerful. Their personal rivalry might not only reshape the entire emerging private space industry, but the shape of U.S. politics as well.