Less than a week after praising each other in the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been embroiled in a heated debate.
In a war of words that escalated on Thursday, Trump and Musk used their social media platforms to attack each other. Although many political analysts had predicted their alliance would not last, the speed with which it collapsed was dramatic.
Just last Friday, Trump was celebrating Musk's work as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, which oversees cutting billions of dollars in federal spending.
The South African-born billionaire had decided to step down from his job with the US government to focus on his businesses, which have suffered as a result of his entry into politics. Speaking at a farewell ceremony at the White House last Friday, the US president called Musk "one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced."
But the glow of their once close relationship has now completely faded. As the billionaires' friendship sours and their feud deepens, questions have been raised about the damage that two of the world's most powerful men could do to each other. While Musk may keep tens of millions of dollars in promised campaign donations, Trump has threatened to cut billions of dollars in government contracts and subsidies for Musk's companies.
The public rift between them began on Tuesday, when Musk criticized Trump's "big, beautiful bill" on X. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives by a narrow margin but faces challenges in the Senate, includes major tax cuts and a hike in the national debt ceiling. Musk, who says the bill undermines all the savings made by DOGE, began to strongly condemn it this week. The bill is "massive, outrageous, full of pork" and "disgusting," Musk said, A2 CNN reports.
Trump responded in the Oval Office during a visit from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump said he was “very disappointed” with Musk, before expressing doubts about whether their “great relationship” would continue. The debate then turned more personal, with Musk, who gave hundreds of millions of dollars to Trump’s campaign last year, saying the US president would not be in the White House without him.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Democrats would have controlled the House, and Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote on X. Things came to a head later Thursday afternoon. “The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions upon billions of dollars, is to cut off Elon’s government subsidies and contracts,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Musk retaliated, claiming that Trump’s name appears in the files of disgraced pedophile and financier Jeffrey Epstein, claiming that was “the real reason they haven’t been made public.” The White House said Thursday night that Musk’s Epstein claim was an “unfortunate episode.” The Trump administration has suggested that the tech billionaire’s criticism of the landmark bill stems from his frustration that it doesn’t contain policies favorable to him, something Musk has denied.
(A2 Televizion)
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