The feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is now in the public eye. The two key figures in American politics are making outrageous claims against each other on their respective social media platforms, namely X (formerly Twitter) and Truth Social.
The camaraderie that once existed between Trump and Musk has faded, and they have fallen out of favour. While many are led to believe that the public spat began on Wednesday (4th June), in reality, it started 2 weeks ago on 22nd May 2025.
At the heart of the controversy lies the ambitious ‘Big Beautiful Act (BBA)’ of the Trump administration. The Republican Party succeeded in passing the Bill in the US House of Representatives by a margin of 215-214.
The legislation aims to introduce multi-million dollar tax cuts, enhance government spending and thereby increase the country’s national debt ceiling.
Elon Musk, who was heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration, felt that the ‘Big Beautiful Act (BBA)’ was counter-productive to the work that he was doing at the federal agency.
In an interview with CBS News on 28th May this year, he remarked, “So, I was like disappointed to see the massive spending bill frankly…which increases the budget deficit. And I am reminded of the work that the DOGE team is doing. I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful. But I don’t know if it could be both.“
Soon after, news stories emerged that Elon Musk was leaving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Tesla CEO confirmed the development in a tweet on 28th May 2025.
As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2025
The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.
“I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” he tweeted, adding that the mission of DOGE would continue nonetheless.
In the meantime, Democrats and their supporters began campaigning on social media for legislators to shoot down the ‘Big Beautiful Act’ in the Senate, which now has Republican Majority.
On Wednesday (4th June), Elon Musk fired off a tweet labelling Trump’s ambitious legislation as ‘outrageous, pork filled Congressional spending bill.’
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” he tweeted.
US President Donald Trump hit back at Elon Musk soon after during a White House Press briefing.
He claimed, “I’m very disappointed with Elon. I’ve helped him a lot. He knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. 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 the EV mandate.”
Donald Trump emphasised that he would have won from Pennsylvania even without the support extended by Elon Musk.
“I have helped Elon a lot…Elon worked hard at DOGE and I think he misses the place…I think he got out there and he’s no longer in this beautiful Oval Office…it’s not just Elon, I think when some people leave they miss it so badly they develop a type of TDS…some embrace it and some become hostile,” he further claimed.
The remarks made by the US President further riled up Tesla CEO, who stated in no uncertain words that he he had no prior knowledge about the Big Beautiful Act.
“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!” Elon Musk slammed Donald Trump.
In another set of tweets, he highlighted, “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Democrats would control the House, and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude.”
The public feud got uglier when Donald Trump vowed to cancel government contracts of SpaceX, a space exploration company run by Elon Musk.
In a post on Truth Social, the US President stated, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
In response, Elon Musk made it clear that SpaceX will immediately begin the process of decommissioning of the Dragon spacecraft.
Donald Trump continued, “Elon was “wearing thin,” I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”
Elon Musk was quick to label it a an ‘obvious lie.’
In the meantime, the Tesla CEO floated the idea of a ‘new political party’ in the US.
Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
He even endorsed the idea of ‘impeachment’ of Donald Trump as the President of the United States and the latter’s replacement with Vice President JD Vance.
Things took a drastic turn when Elon Musk labelled Donald Trump a close confidante of the deceased child sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
In a set of tweets on Thursday (5th June), the Tesla CEO declared, “Time to drop the really big bomb: Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT! Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”
This tweet gave further ammunition to Democratic party leaders to target Donald Trump. Republicans who have supported Elon Musk and Donald Trump throughout the entirety of the campaign are left hanging in the balance and are forced to pick one side.
