President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to cut off government contracts with billionaire Elon Musk’s companies, and Musk suggested Trump should be impeached, as the bromance between the president and his former adviser disintegrated into a barroom brawl.
Trump started the feud in remarks from the Oval Office. Musk quickly responded with posts on his social media site X, and within hours both were trading barbs on their respective social media platforms.
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social.
Their sparring hammered shares of Musk’s electric vehicle maker Tesla, which lost about $150 billion in value, closing down 14.3% for the day.
Minutes after the closing bell, Musk replied, “Yes,” to a post on X saying Trump should be impeached.
Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress and are highly unlikely to impeach him.
The trouble between the two built up over the week. On Tuesday, Musk began denouncing Trump’s sweeping tax-cut and spending bill. The president held his tongue while Musk, his former adviser, campaigned to torpedo the bill, saying it would add too much to the nation’s $36.2 trillion in debt.
Trump broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters in the Oval Office he was “very disappointed” in Musk.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said.
As Trump spoke, Musk responded with increasingly acerbic posts on X.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” Musk posted. “Such ingratitude.”
Besides Tesla, Musk’s businesses include rocket company and government contractor SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. The billionaire spent nearly $300 million in the 2024 election in support of Trump and other Republican candidates.
Read also: Former ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk takes aim at ‘abomination’ Trump bill
Musk, whose space business plays a critical role in the U.S. government’s space program, said that as a result of Trump’s threats he planned to begin decommissioning SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. Dragon is the only U.S. spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station.
SpaceX’s cheap, reusable Falcon 9 rockets have made it the world’s most active launch provider. Its vast Starlink network has disrupted the global satellite communications market.
Tesla shares slide as Trump hits back at Musk over spending bill
After serving as the biggest Republican donor in the 2024 campaign season, Musk became one of Trump’s most visible advisers as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, which mounted a sweeping effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending.
Musk was frequently present at the White House and made multiple appearances on Capitol Hill, sometimes carrying his young son.
Only six days before Thursday’s blowup, Trump and Musk held a joint appearance in the Oval Office, where Trump praised Musk’s government service and both men promised to continue working together.
A prolonged feud between Trump and Musk could make it more difficult for Republicans to keep control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. In addition to his campaign spending, Musk has a huge online following and helped connect Trump to parts of Silicon Valley and wealthy donors.
Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending in the future.
Soon after Trump’s Oval Office comments, Musk polled his 220 million followers on X: “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?”
Musk’s blistering attacks this week targeted what Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill.” Musk called it a “disgusting abomination” that would deepen the federal deficit, and his posts amplified a rift within the Republican Party that could threaten the bill’s prospects in the Senate.
Nonpartisan analysts say Trump’s bill could add $2.4 trillion to $5 trillion to the nation’s $36.2 trillion in debt.
Trump asserted that Musk really objected to the president’s elimination of consumer tax credits for electric vehicles.
Trump also suggested that Musk was upset because he missed working for Trump.
“He’s not the first,” Trump said on Thursday. “People leave my administration … then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it and some of them actually become hostile.”
Musk wrote on X, “KILL the BILL,” adding he was fine with Trump’s planned cuts to electric vehicle credits as long as Republicans rid the bill of “mountain of disgusting pork” or wasteful spending.
He also pulled up past quotes from Trump decrying the level of federal spending, adding, “Where is this guy today?”
Trump, meanwhile, posted on Truth Social that Musk “went crazy.”
Musk came into government with brash plans to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. He left last week having cut only about half of 1% of total spending.
DOGE eliminated thousands of federal jobs and cut billions of dollars in foreign aid and other programs, causing disruption across federal agencies and fueling a wave of legal challenges.
Musk’s increasing focus on politics provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites in the U.S. and Europe, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk’s attention was too divided.
Following Trump’s remarks, a White House official, speaking on background, underscored the shift in the once-close dynamic between Musk and Trump.
“The president is making it clear: this White House is not beholden to Elon Musk on policy,” the official said. “By attacking the bill the way he did, Musk has clearly picked a side.”
