A Very Public Breakup

Simmering policy disagreements between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on June 4 devolved into open conflict when the president criticized his former ally from the Oval Office.

After Musk ratcheted up his criticisms of Trump’s signature domestic policy bill, Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was “disappointed” with the Tesla CEO, alleging his attacks were driven by the bill’s rollback of clean energy tax credits. 

Musk quickly shot back on his social media platform X, posting a flurry of responses and raising the prospect of abandoning the GOP entirely in favor of a new third party. Trump responded on his Truth Social platform, threatening to cancel government contracts with Musk’s companies. 

The conflict escalated rapidly online, with both leveling personal attacks and threats at the other. 

The public rupture comes just days after Musk left the administration as a special adviser for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump and Musk had praised each other in an Oval Office event marking the occasion. 

The once-close relationship between the two, which began in 2024 after Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, had been strained in recent weeks by disagreements over the House-passed budget bill, called by Republicans the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” 

The GOP legislation would fund and implement Trump’s agenda, but has been condemned by Musk and some other Republicans for its potential impact on the federal deficit. 

After days of attempting to present a unified front despite their disagreements on the budget bill, Trump indicated growing frustrations with Musk during comments to reporters from the Oval Office. 

The president expressed disappointment in Musk’s criticisms of his key legislation. “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” he said. 

Musk immediately responded with a post on X, stating that his campaigning for Trump turned the tide in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. 

“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, adding, “Such ingratitude.”

Musk poured $300 million into supporting Trump in the 2024 election. 

Trump said that he had been blindsided by Musk’s opposition to the GOP bill, telling reporters that Musk “knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here.” 

Trump suggested that Musk’s opposition was driven in part by the bill’s provisions to repeal credits for electric vehicles included in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. 

“He only developed the problem when he found out we’re going to cut the EV mandate,” Trump said, referring to electric vehicles. 

The House-passed bill phases out a $7,500 EV tax credit in December 2026. It also accelerates phase-outs of other clean energy tax credits enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Musk denied that his opposition was due to changes to EV policy. 

“Whatever,” he said in a post. “Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.”

On his Truth Social platform, Trump said that Musk had been “wearing thin,” adding that he had asked Musk to leave his post at DOGE. Musk responded, denying it. 

Trump also threatened the SpaceX CEO’s government contracts, saying that cutting these would be a quick way to save the government money. 

“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 in a post on Truth Social. 

In response, Musk said in a post, that SpaceX “will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.” 

The spacecraft referenced by Musk, the Dragon 2, is currently one of the most commonly used spacecraft to ferry U.S. crew and cargo to the International Space Station, for which the government pays SpaceX. 

The conflict stems from differing positions on the Trump agenda bill’s impact on the federal deficit. 

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on June 4 projected that the legislation would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over a decade, but Trump has indicated that this doesn’t tell the full story. 

Trump and Republican leaders argue that the bill would unleash economic growth, leading to net reductions in the deficit over 10 years. 

The White House has pointed to a CBO projection that says that Trump’s tariffs would cut the federal deficit by $2.8 trillion over 10 years. 

“When you combine the two—the deficit will be cut by $500 billion over 10 years,” White House principal deputy communications director Alex Pfeiffer said on X on Wednesday, referring to the CBO projections on the budget bill and Trump’s tariffs. 

The president defended the bill in a June 5 post on Truth Social, calling it “one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.” 

Musk, meanwhile, has decried it as a “disgusting abomination,” expressing skepticism that a bill can be both “big” and “beautiful.” He called on supporters to urge their lawmakers to “KILL the BILL.”

It’s unclear what impact the growing feud will have as the legislation works through the Senate. The president hopes that the legislation can be passed by early July. 

—Joseph Lord and Jackson Richman

BOOKMARKS

Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he’s resolved the problem of rare earth mineral export restrictions with China, following a lengthy phone conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “Our respective teams will be meeting shortly at a location to be determined” to iron out negotiations, Trump said after the hour-and-a-half-long call.

The Justice Department wants to reclaim more than $7.74 million in cryptocurrency allegedly laundered by North Korean IT workers and funneled back to that country to fund its weapons program. The workers used stolen American identities, according to FBI Counterintelligence Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky.

A vote in the House Oversight Committee to subpoena Elon Musk narrowly failed on Thursday, 21–20. Democrat ranking member Rep. Stephen Lynch (Mass.) called for the subpoena as a form of retroactive oversight, following Musk’s departure from the government last week. 

Trump said on June 5 that the Ukraine-Russia conflict may carry on a bit longer, comparing Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “two young children … fighting in a park.” Noting that the level of animus between the two leaders was high, he told reporters at a White House event on June 5 that, “Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while.”

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Thursday that it recovered the bodies of two American-Israeli hostages killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. “Together with all citizens of Israel, my wife and I convey our heartfelt condolences to the dear families,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X. 

—Stacy Robinson