The long-simmering tension between Donald Trump and Elon Musk finally boiled over on Thursday, erupting into a fiery public feud between the former president and the tech billionaire. What began as a disagreement over a GOP-backed spending bill quickly spiraled into a torrent of personal jabs and pointed threats over billions in federal contracts.

Trump took aim after Musk criticized what the Tesla chief called a bloated Republican spending measure. Trump had been touting the bill as his “big, beautiful bill,” but Musk wasn’t impressed. The two began exchanging blows online, with Trump suggesting that the government could pull its support from Musk’s companies, and Musk retaliating by dragging the former president into the orbit of Jeffrey Epstein.

“Elon knew this bill inside out,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office. “I’ve helped Elon a lot. I’m disappointed.”

The remarks — along with a flurry of social media posts from both men — signaled a definitive rupture in what was once one of the more unusual political alliances in recent history. Musk had donated more than $250 million to Trump’s 2024 campaign and had played a central role after Trump’s re-election, heading the Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk’s work — overseeing layoffs, shutting down underperforming agencies, and pushing aggressive digital reforms — earned him frequent praise from Trump. But their rapport began to unravel as Musk started to step back from his duties and Trump shifted his focus toward expansive fiscal legislation.

The fallout came fast. Musk, who had once jokingly dubbed himself Trump’s “first buddy,” formally exited the administration last week on what appeared to be tense terms. Speaking to CBS before leaving, he said he was “disappointed to see the massive spending bill” which, he argued, “increases the budget deficit” and undermines the work of the DOGE team — the very office he led. (Source, Source)

Just one day prior, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had released an estimate showing that the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over a decade.

In response to Trump’s public disappointment, Musk fired off a barrage of posts on X, initially brushing off the criticism with a “whatever” before launching into direct attacks on both the bill and the president. “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote. “Such ingratitude.”

Trump responded later in the day on Truth Social, claiming Musk had “gone crazy” after he was “asked to leave” his White House role. The former president also floated the possibility of cutting government ties with Musk’s firms, which collectively hold federal contracts worth billions. (Source)

Musk escalated further, alleging that Trump’s name appeared in the infamous “Epstein files” — a large set of documents linked to various investigations. Earlier this year, the Justice Department released new files related to Epstein’s case, though no new revelations implicated Trump directly.

While Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing and claimed, “I was never on Epstein’s Plane, or at his ‘stupid’ Island,” flight records from the 2021 Ghislane Maxwell trial indicate he flew on Epstein’s jet seven times — though the logs did not list the ages of passengers.

The White House has not yet responded to Musk’s accusations. But the online sparring continued late into the night. Trump said, “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago.” Not long after, Musk reposted a call for Trump’s impeachment and suggested replacing him with JD Vance, commenting simply, “Yes.”

Musk then claimed that Trump’s protectionist tariffs would “cause a recession in the second half of this year,” a remark he shared on X with no attempt to soften the blow.

Just months ago, the two had been publicly supportive of each other. On Musk’s final day in government, Trump praised his tenure, saying, “Elon’s really not leaving. He’s going to be back and forth, I think.” He added, “It’s his baby, and I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things. But Elon’s service to America has been without comparison in modern history.”