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So it finally happened.
The twisted friendship that everyone knew couldn’t last, whose breakup it was foretold would create enough bitterness to fuel a SpaceX mission to Mars, is no more.
The immovable object that is Donald Trump’s ego has met the unstoppable force that is Elon Musk’s (allegedly) ketamine-fueled arrogance, and the results are already reshaping the political landscape.
Never in history has the world seen behind the curtain at a feud between two such powerful men, only for them to be exposed as petty schoolchildren.
From their own social media platforms, the titans spent Thursday trying to destroy each other’s reputations with threats and secrets. This was politics’ King Kong and Godzilla — enough to crash markets, swing elections and raise sea levels.
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Just last week the president was handing Musk a symbolic key to the White House on his final day as a “special government employee,” as the two lavished each other with praise.
Today, sordid Jeffery Epstein insinuations are flying like darts and Trump is threatening to cripple Musk’s business empire. Tesla stock is plummeting and Musk, who donated a whopping $300 million to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, is threatening to start a third party.
Musk’s rampage began just four days after he left the White House, with him posting on X about Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, a signature spending package the president has endorsed, calling it a “disgusting abomination.”
The billionaire declared the “outrageous, pork-filled” spending bill would “massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America [sic] citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
Trump, uncharacteristically, didn’t respond in public immediately. When he did, he insisted that he wasn’t mad with Musk during a press conference with the German Chancellor earlier on Thursday, just “very disappointed.”
Sounding every bit a disheartened father, and speaking in a tone familiar to any child who hasn’t cleaned their room for a month, he said that he had “helped Elon a lot.”
“Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, claiming that Musk “had no problem with it.”
“Elon and I had a great relationship,” he continued. “I don’t know if we will anymore.”
It seemed as if Trump was having trouble coming to terms with the idea that Musk was rebelling against him.
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“I’ve always liked Elon, and I was very surprised. You saw the words he had for me. He hasn’t said anything about me that’s bad. I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill, because the bill is incredible,” he said.
By Trump’s standards it was a tame response, but Musk did not get away completely unscathed.
“All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the EV mandate, because that’s billions and billions of dollars, and it really is unfair,” Trump said, suggesting Musk had ulterior motives for criticizing the bill.
Trump then said he “would have won Pennsylvania easily anyway,” claiming credit for one of Musk’s most important contributions during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump’s disappointment expressed in the White House presser appeared to set off Musk, as he ramped up his vitriol in a fresh tweetstorm only minutes later.
“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 on X.
“Such ingratitude,” he continued.
Like a petulant teenager subtweeting his dad, Musk continued on a tirade on X, writing, “Where is the man who wrote these words? Was he replaced by a body double!?” over old posts from Trump lambasting Republicans for failing to balance the budget.
And on he went, tweeting up a storm against the president. Trump finally had enough and decided to threaten to hit Musk where it hurts — his wallet.
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“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.
The threat of losing cash seems to made the billionaire explode with vitriol, which led to a stunning outburst:
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk posted.
Then, after accusing Trump of being involved with convicted child sex offender Epstein, he posted in support of impeaching Trump — not just turning his back on the president he was an advisor to just days ago, but leading calls for his downfall.
Trump had a few public events throughout the afternoon while Musk was posting. If history is anything to go by, his Truth Social diatribes against his former First Buddy will kick off late tonight.
