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Donald Trump’s relationship with Elon Musk appeared on the precipice of devolving into bitter personal acrimony on Thursday as the onetime special adviser publicly assailed the president for being ungrateful for the millions he spent to get him elected.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk said in a post on X. He added: “Such ingratitude.”
The direct shot at Trump was the latest twist in a rapidly deteriorating alliance. Trump and Musk had been careful not to hit each other directly, but they both discarded restraint as what started as a dispute over Trump’s domestic spending bill escalated.
Musk taking credit for Trump’s election win threatens to be a touchpoint for their relationship, in particular. Trump had made a point to say Musk’s contribution had no bearing on his ability to win the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania in the 2024 election.
The Trump-Musk relationship may yet get worse. Hours after the feud kicked off, Trump threatened to punish Musk, posting on Truth Social: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”
Shares of Tesla, Musk’s electronic vehicle company, fell nearly 12% shortly after midday, with the decline timed to when Trump’s remarks began.
For weeks, Musk has complained about the proposed Republican budget bill and used the non-partisan congressional budget office estimating the bill would add $2.4tn to the deficit over the next decade as an opening to slam the legislation as a “disgusting abomination”.
On Thursday, Trump appeared to finally have had enough of Musk’s complaints. Speaking in the Oval Office as German chancellor Friedrich Merz looked on in bemusement, Trump mocked Musk’s recent black eye and questioned why he didn’t cover it up.
“You saw a man who was very happy when he stood behind the Oval desk. Even with a black eye. I said, do you want a little makeup? He said, ‘No, I don’t think so,’ which is interesting,” Trump said. “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”
Trump then ratcheted up his barbs at Musk, accusing him of turning against the bill solely out of self-interest, as the bill did not benefit Tesla, Musk’s electronic vehicle company, and Trump pulled the nomination of Musk’s preferred candidate to lead Nasa.
“I’m very disappointed with Elon,” Trump said. “He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem & he only developed the problem when he found out we’re going to cut EV mandate.”
An unrestrained Musk hit back within minutes of the clip being posted on X, seemingly learning of Trump’s comments in real time. As Washington watched in disbelief at the back and forth playing out online, Musk effectively accused Trump of lying.
“False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” Musk posted.
The public feud comes after a remarkable partnership that lasted longer than many Democrats on Capitol Hill and in Trump’s orbit predicted.
Musk spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Trump’s re-election campaign through his specially created America Pac which shouldered a large portion of Trump’s door-knocking campaign, although that the actual impact of that ground game effort is unclear.
