A few days ago, they appeared demonstratively in harmony with each other, but now this harmony has ended - perhaps forever. Elon Musk and Donald Trump are exchanging harsh accusations. Meanwhile, Tesla shares are falling sharply.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump have been heavily critical of each other. Musk, for example, supported impeachment proceedings against Trump over his messaging service X.
He was reacting to a 14.3 percent drop in Tesla shares on the U.S. stock market. The company lost $150 billion in value. Trump previously wrote in Truth Social that the simplest measure for the U.S. budget would be to cut "billions and billions of dollars" in government subsidies and contracts with Musk's companies.
Planned tax law sparked controversy
The dispute between Musk and Trump is sparked by a bill before the Senate. It proposes sweeping tax and spending reforms. But they would also increase the national debt by trillions of dollars.
The House of Representatives passed the bill by a slim majority. Trump accused Musk of opposing the bill because it proposed incentives for electric vehicles. Musk had justified his criticism by citing the federal deficit and called the bill an "abomination."
Trump has previously ostentatiously praised the entrepreneur as part of the government. Musk has led the cost-cutting DOGE Agency, cut thousands of jobs and secured billions of dollars in government contracts.
Musk's threats
Trump first publicly addressed the Musk controversy during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House. He said Musk was motivated by business interests. According to Trump, Musk had no problem with the law — until he realized it also included billions of dollars in cuts to subsidies for electric vehicles.
Musk called it a lie. The 53-year-old owner of the online platform X suggested that Republican members of Congress should support him in passing the law.
"Trump has three and a half years left as president, while I will be here for 40+ years," he wrote. Musk made multiple posts on X within hours, reminding congressmen of the importance of the law.
With an estimated net worth of more than $300 billion, Musk is by far the richest person in the world. Last year, he donated more than $250 million to Trump's reelection campaign, despite previously being considered a Democrat.
Musk could use his money to fund Trump's challengers and members of Congress who might vote against the law.
"Without me, Trump would have lost"
"Without me, Trump would have lost the election," said Musk, who has also supported Trump in several federal swing states, such as Pennsylvania. Trump now said he would have easily won Pennsylvania even without Musk.
"Without me, Trump would have lost the election," Musk wrote on X. "Such ingratitude," he wrote, adding: "It's time to drop the really big bombshell."
He stated that Trump's name appeared on records related to the affair of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. "That's the real reason he wasn't released," Musk said.
Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino recently said the financier, who was well-connected in high society, committed suicide. Trump's Justice Department declassified some of Epstein's records in February. Musk offered no evidence for his claim. But during his time as a government adviser, he intervened in many matters that went beyond his scope of responsibility.
The president initially refrained from commenting on the Epstein case. However, Trump aides told CNN that they did not believe their relationship could be salvaged after Musk's attack.
The dispute between the once close allies is now also jeopardizing the US space programs. Musk threatened to shut down his company SpaceX's "Dragon" capsule.
It is the only American spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA has relied on the spacecraft since 2020 as part of a $5 billion contract with SpaceX.
Musk's SpaceX space company holds nearly $22 billion in U.S. government contracts. Abandoning the Dragon capsule could derail the ISS program.
Dozens of countries are involved under a divisive international agreement. SpaceX is also said to be heavily involved in several upcoming US government programs, including the transformation of the program that serves as a giant missile defense shield in space./ DW (A2 Televizion)
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