Political alliance fractures as Trump and Musk escalate public feud
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Political alliance fractures as Trump and Musk escalate public feud
The two have broken ties, and the "brotherhood" is gone...
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Li Dan, Wall Street Insights
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly publicly criticized the Trump administration's massive spending bill, and now his so-called "brotherly bond" with U.S. President Trump appears to have completely broken down—even superficial appearances are gone.
On Thursday, June 5, Eastern Time, the former "close allies" erupted into an open war of words over the Republican tax-cut and spending bill. First, Trump told reporters at the White House that he was “very disappointed” in Musk because Musk, who understands the bill better than anyone else, suddenly turned against it. Musk quickly fired back on social media, accusing Trump of lying—claiming he had never seen the bill before and that cutting spending is the only viable path forward.
According to CCTV News, Trump said he would rather have Musk criticize him personally than attack his tax reform bill. He claimed Musk was upset about the administration’s move to repeal the electric vehicle (EV) "mandate." Trump asserted that Musk knew how the bill worked internally and had no objections—until he realized the EV mandate would be scrapped.
Trump said:
"I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped him a lot. He knows more about the inner workings of this bill than anyone in this room. He had no problem with it. Suddenly, he does—and only when he found out we were eliminating the EV mandate."
Later, Trump posted on social media that it was he who suggested Musk leave the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), after Musk went "crazy" over the cancellation of the so-called EV purchase mandate. The post read:
"Elon has become 'unacceptable,' I asked him to leave. I canceled his EV mandate, which forced everyone to buy unwanted EVs (he knew months ago I’d do this!), and he went nuts!"
Trump also hinted in another post that he might terminate government contracts with companies owned by Musk. He wrote:
"The easiest way to save tens of billions in our budget is to end Musk’s government subsidies and contracts. I’ve always been amazed Biden didn’t do this!"
Musk did not back down. On social media, he dropped a bombshell, alleging Trump was implicated in Jeffrey Epstein's sex crimes—and that this is the real reason the U.S. government has not released Epstein’s files.
Musk posted at Trump’s account:
"Time to drop the bomb: @realDonaldTrump appears in Epstein’s files. This is why these documents haven't been released. Have a great day, DJT!"
Musk followed up by saying he was tagging the post because the truth would eventually come out.
Musk then posted that, given Trump’s threat to cancel his government contracts, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft would immediately begin disengaging from government missions. He also claimed Trump’s tariffs would push the U.S. economy into recession in the second half of this year.
According to CCTV, Musk later publicly supported calls for Trump’s impeachment, replying “yes” to a post advocating impeachment.
Trump: Musk Is Angry Because We Targeted Electric Vehicles — I Would’ve Won Pennsylvania Without Musk
According to Trump, Musk “betrayed” him because the spending bill—dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill”—harms the interests of Tesla and the broader EV industry.
Trump maintained his support for the bill was correct and said he’d prefer Musk criticize him personally rather than attack the legislative draft. He expressed surprise at Musk’s reaction, though he could understand Musk being upset over the administration repealing the EV tax credit policy introduced under President Biden.
"Elon is angry because we removed the EV mandate—a huge sum of money for EVs. They're struggling in EVs now and still want us to pay them billions in subsidies. Elon knew this from the beginning."
Trump said their relationship used to be strong. Musk had strongly supported him during last year’s election—"But I would’ve won anyway."
CCTV reported that Trump claimed he could win Pennsylvania’s electoral votes even without Musk’s support. Trump added that Musk hasn’t personally attacked him yet—but he believes that will come next.
CCTV also noted that the Trump administration withdrew its nomination of Jared Isaacman, recommended by Musk, for NASA Administrator.
Media reported earlier Wednesday that the White House had rejected Isaacman’s nomination, further escalating tensions between Musk and Trump. After Musk criticized the Big Beautiful Bill, Trump lost patience, while Musk was furious over the reversal on Isaacman’s nomination. Musk is a close ally of Isaacman and had strongly backed his appointment.
Citing senior White House officials, the outlet said Trump was frustrated by Musk’s criticism and didn’t understand why Musk chose to intensify attacks after four months of close collaboration. Trump’s top advisers were reportedly caught off guard by Musk’s latest offensive.
Musk: The Bill Was Never Shown to Me — Even If EV Incentives Are Cut Unfairly, We Need ‘Lean and Beautiful’ Legislation — Trump Wouldn’t Have Won Without My Support
Shortly after Trump’s remarks, Musk launched rapid-fire rebuttals on his social platform.
In response to Trump’s claim that Musk opposed the bill due to EV-related financial interests, Musk opened his post with a simple: "Whatever."
He continued:
"The bill retains cuts to EV and solar tax incentives, but doesn’t touch oil and gas subsidies (very unfair!!). All the grotesque special-interest provisions must be stripped out.
Throughout history, there has never been such a thing as big and beautiful legislation. Everyone knows this! You either get a 'big and ugly' bill or a 'lean and beautiful' one. Lean and beautiful is the way."
Musk then directly refuted Trump’s claim that he had prior knowledge of the bill and raised no objections, posting:
"False. I was never shown the bill—not once—and it was rushed through late at night, with almost no congressmen able to read it!"
Musk shared a post from Senator Rand Paul, who had previously opposed the bill and was warned by Trump. Paul stated that Musk hit the nail on the head—his report last year revealed that in 2024 alone, Americans paid $892 billion in interest, consuming 10% of the federal budget. Musk commented that a big and ugly bill would make things worse.
Musk also reshared a comment agreeing with the view that Trump could not have won the election without his support.
The comment said: “Musk said, ‘Without me, Trump would’ve lost the election, Democrats would control the Senate, and Republicans would have only a 51-to-49 majority.’ That’s absolutely right.”
Musk reshared a post summarizing statements from his interview, reiterating that the Big Beautiful Bill would expand the U.S. federal deficit to $2.5 trillion. The interview indicated that the U.S. already has a $2 trillion deficit that keeps growing, and interest payments have surpassed the Defense Department’s budget. Wall Street Insights previously noted that on Tuesday, Musk publicly broke ranks, stating the bill would inflate the already massive budget deficit to $2.5 trillion.
On Wednesday, Musk posted, urging Americans to contact their lawmakers to “veto” the bill, attaching a still from the movie *Kill Bill*. On Thursday, he posted again: “Kill the bill.”
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