The relationship between U.S. President Trump and the world's richest man Musk is rapidly deteriorating, escalating into a war of words on their respective social media platforms.
The two just stood together in the Oval Office last week, declaring their lasting friendship, but on Thursday, they were openly mocking and insulting each other in real-time. The initial expressions of sadness, ingratitude, and disappointment quickly escalated into mutual threats.
The rift between the two has widened since Musk spoke out against Trump's "big and beautiful" bill on Tuesday. Musk called the bill a "disgustingly ugly act" that is bound to destroy America's finances. On Thursday afternoon, Eastern time, Musk posted on his X platform that without his help, Trump would never win back the White House.
Trump called the billionaire "crazy" and threatened to cancel his company's federal contracts. Musk retaliated by saying he would retire the crucial Dragon spacecraft that supports the International Space Station. Tesla's stock price fell sharply in response.
As the front-row melon-eating crowd, Yu Luhui hereby sorted out the timeline of the breakup of the two.
10:37 AM Eastern Time
Elon Musk retweeted a "report" from the Christian news satire site The Babylon Bee on Thursday, kicking off his "X" campaign. The headline warned that Congress might delay the nation's destruction if a spending bill cannot be passed.
11:20 AM Eastern Time
The billionaire directly criticized the president, retweeting a post from Trump in 2013 that criticized the Republican Party for raising the debt ceiling. "That makes a lot of sense," Musk said.
11:46 AM Eastern Time
Elon Musk retweeted another message from Trump from the past, which is from 2012, stating that if the U.S. budget is unbalanced, no member of Congress should be re-elected.
At noon, Trump began to respond to Musk's criticism. "Elon is very angry because we accepted the electric vehicle mandate, you know, that's a huge amount of money for electric vehicles," he said. "They are making it difficult for the electric vehicle industry and want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidies. And Elon has known this from the very beginning."
He went on to say that Musk understands the inner workings of the bill. He said that he has a good relationship with Musk - but that relationship may be over.
"I am very disappointed in Elon, I have helped Elon a lot."
12:11 PM Eastern Time
Musk pauses his criticism and praises the president's decision to cut funding for California's high-speed rail, calling it a wise move.
But eight minutes later, Musk seemed to immediately respond to Trump's comments about the electric vehicle mandate: "Whatever." The Tesla CEO stated that he agreed to keep the electric vehicle subsidies in the bill, but pointed out that oil and gas subsidies were unaffected (which is "very unfair!!"). He also criticized the large amount of "political baggage" in the bill.
12:25 PM Eastern Time
Then, posts kept emerging. Musk stated that he had never seen the bill.
12:46 PM Eastern Time
Musk replied to X user Autism Capital praising his role in the election, stating that without him, Trump would lose and the Democrats would control the House. He then added, "What a thankless job. Eastern Time 1:37 PM.
Elon Musk retweeted a post from an X user named Wall Street Mav, who expressed hope that this dispute would not damage the billionaire's relationship with Trump.
Musk immediately played a video of Trump praising Tesla in front of the White House. "Do you remember this?" Musk said, pointing at the president.
2:37 PM Eastern Time
Trump joined the debate on his "Truth Social" platform. He said he asked the billionaire to leave, and Musk was "crazy."
The president then issued a huge threat to the business of the world's richest man. The easiest way to save money, he said, is to cut government contracts at Musk's company. According to Bloomberg government data, SpaceX and Tesla have earned a total of $22.5 billion in revenue from federal unclassified contracts since fiscal year 2000.
2:48 PM Eastern Time
Elon Musk responds to Trump's post: "This is simply a lie. So sad."
He then retweeted a post suggesting that terminating government contracts would lead to the dissolution of the International Space Station, accompanied by a smiling face emoji. "Come on, make me happy..." he said.
3:10 PM Eastern Time
Musk stated, "It's time to drop a real bombshell," suggesting that Trump’s refusal to release documents related to the notorious New York financier Jeffrey Epstein is because the president himself is implicated.
4:09 PM Eastern Time
Musk then issued a threat, stating that he would retire the SpaceX "Dragon" spacecraft, which is responsible for transporting cargo and personnel to the International Space Station for the United States.
As the argument continued into the afternoon, Tesla's stock price plummeted, and investors were in a panic about the Tesla X platform.
Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Inc. urged someone to take away Musk's phone. As of the close, Tesla's stock price has dropped by 14%, marking its largest decline since March.
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Come and get the gossip: Trump and Musk "officially announce" their breakup, "arguing for 6 hours" (with timeline)
The relationship between U.S. President Trump and the world's richest man Musk is rapidly deteriorating, escalating into a war of words on their respective social media platforms.
The two just stood together in the Oval Office last week, declaring their lasting friendship, but on Thursday, they were openly mocking and insulting each other in real-time. The initial expressions of sadness, ingratitude, and disappointment quickly escalated into mutual threats.
The rift between the two has widened since Musk spoke out against Trump's "big and beautiful" bill on Tuesday. Musk called the bill a "disgustingly ugly act" that is bound to destroy America's finances. On Thursday afternoon, Eastern time, Musk posted on his X platform that without his help, Trump would never win back the White House.
Trump called the billionaire "crazy" and threatened to cancel his company's federal contracts. Musk retaliated by saying he would retire the crucial Dragon spacecraft that supports the International Space Station. Tesla's stock price fell sharply in response.
As the front-row melon-eating crowd, Yu Luhui hereby sorted out the timeline of the breakup of the two.
10:37 AM Eastern Time
Elon Musk retweeted a "report" from the Christian news satire site The Babylon Bee on Thursday, kicking off his "X" campaign. The headline warned that Congress might delay the nation's destruction if a spending bill cannot be passed.
11:20 AM Eastern Time
The billionaire directly criticized the president, retweeting a post from Trump in 2013 that criticized the Republican Party for raising the debt ceiling. "That makes a lot of sense," Musk said.
11:46 AM Eastern Time
Elon Musk retweeted another message from Trump from the past, which is from 2012, stating that if the U.S. budget is unbalanced, no member of Congress should be re-elected.
At noon, Trump began to respond to Musk's criticism. "Elon is very angry because we accepted the electric vehicle mandate, you know, that's a huge amount of money for electric vehicles," he said. "They are making it difficult for the electric vehicle industry and want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidies. And Elon has known this from the very beginning."
He went on to say that Musk understands the inner workings of the bill. He said that he has a good relationship with Musk - but that relationship may be over.
"I am very disappointed in Elon, I have helped Elon a lot."
12:11 PM Eastern Time
Musk pauses his criticism and praises the president's decision to cut funding for California's high-speed rail, calling it a wise move.
But eight minutes later, Musk seemed to immediately respond to Trump's comments about the electric vehicle mandate: "Whatever." The Tesla CEO stated that he agreed to keep the electric vehicle subsidies in the bill, but pointed out that oil and gas subsidies were unaffected (which is "very unfair!!"). He also criticized the large amount of "political baggage" in the bill.
12:25 PM Eastern Time
Then, posts kept emerging. Musk stated that he had never seen the bill.
12:46 PM Eastern Time
Musk replied to X user Autism Capital praising his role in the election, stating that without him, Trump would lose and the Democrats would control the House. He then added, "What a thankless job. Eastern Time 1:37 PM.
Elon Musk retweeted a post from an X user named Wall Street Mav, who expressed hope that this dispute would not damage the billionaire's relationship with Trump.
Musk immediately played a video of Trump praising Tesla in front of the White House. "Do you remember this?" Musk said, pointing at the president.
2:37 PM Eastern Time
Trump joined the debate on his "Truth Social" platform. He said he asked the billionaire to leave, and Musk was "crazy."
The president then issued a huge threat to the business of the world's richest man. The easiest way to save money, he said, is to cut government contracts at Musk's company. According to Bloomberg government data, SpaceX and Tesla have earned a total of $22.5 billion in revenue from federal unclassified contracts since fiscal year 2000.
2:48 PM Eastern Time
Elon Musk responds to Trump's post: "This is simply a lie. So sad."
He then retweeted a post suggesting that terminating government contracts would lead to the dissolution of the International Space Station, accompanied by a smiling face emoji. "Come on, make me happy..." he said.
3:10 PM Eastern Time
Musk stated, "It's time to drop a real bombshell," suggesting that Trump’s refusal to release documents related to the notorious New York financier Jeffrey Epstein is because the president himself is implicated.
4:09 PM Eastern Time
Musk then issued a threat, stating that he would retire the SpaceX "Dragon" spacecraft, which is responsible for transporting cargo and personnel to the International Space Station for the United States.
As the argument continued into the afternoon, Tesla's stock price plummeted, and investors were in a panic about the Tesla X platform.
Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Inc. urged someone to take away Musk's phone. As of the close, Tesla's stock price has dropped by 14%, marking its largest decline since March.