New Delhi: Once political allies and publicly appreciative of each other’s influence, US President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk are now engaged in a full-blown, high-stakes feud that spilled into the open on Thursday. At the heart of the clash is Trump’s flagship “One Big Beautiful Bill”, which Musk has vehemently opposed. He has termed it “a disgusting abomination”.
After months of working closely together, the rift between the President and the billionaire entrepreneur widened this week when Musk publicly criticised the bill that offers massive tax cuts while cutting clean energy incentives. Experts have pointed out that these measures have direct implications for Tesla and Musk’s other ventures.
Trump vs Elon escalates
Reacting to Musk’s statements, Trump told reporters at the White House: “Elon knew the inner workings of this bill, better than almost anybody sitting here. He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the EV mandate, because that’s billions and billions of dollars…And I can understand that, but he knew every aspect of this bill. He knew it better than almost anybody, and he never had a problem until right after he left (DOGE). And if you saw the statements he made about me, which I’m sure you can get very easily, it’s very fresh on tape, he said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn’t said bad about me personally, but I’m sure that’ll be next, but I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
But Musk was quick to respond on his platform X, calling Trump’s claims false. “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 wrote.
‘Trump won with my help’
The feud further escalated after Musk accused Trump of “ingratitude”, reminding him of his support during the 2024 election. “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk posted.
The spat has since spiralled. Trump, in posts on his platform Truth Social, hit back again, accusing Musk of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and being bitter over the withdrawal of government support. “The easiest way to save money in our Budget is to terminate Elon’s subsidies and contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” he wrote, claiming he was the one who asked Musk to leave the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk fired off yet another salvo, announcing that SpaceX would begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft — a clear warning shot amid rising tensions over federal contracts. He also posted that Trump appears in Jeffrey Epstein’s files, insinuating serious implications to come.
