The widely predicted breakup between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has gotten so intensely nasty and personal that, one assumes, even Johnny Depp and Amber Heard probably want them to calm down.
Flame wars on X are never particularly edifying, and the rule holds true even when it is two of the most powerful people on the planet furiously typing on their phones.
Musk made a historic contribution to Trump’s victory in 2024 with his financial support and fierce advocacy, and he became a joined-at-the-hip confidant of the president in the initial months of the administration. At times, Musk was drawing more fire than Trump himself when DOGE was at its chainsaw-wielding peak.
Now, Musk’s time at DOGE has wrapped up with about $180 billion in claimed savings through spending cuts, canceled contracts, canceled leases, and other moves. That’s considerably lower than the goal Musk set last autumn and will have a negligible effect on the deficit, but it’s not chopped liver.
Alas, as Musk apparently noticed recently, all those savings will be more than offset by the effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill that passed the House and awaits action in the Senate. The Congressional Budget Office examined the bill’s likely effects on the deficit and the debt and concluded that it would increase the federal debt by $2.4 trillion over ten years. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk declared on X a few days ago, in the post that started the unraveling. “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.”
On Thursday, Trump shot back by contending that Musk was primarily concerned with protecting Tesla’s subsidies. Musk accused Trump first of ingratitude and then of being in the Epstein files. Trump said he’d cancel Musk’s federal contracts. Musk said he’d decommission the Dragon rockets serving the International Space Station.
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto: Let’s call the whole thing off — in the most spectacular, juvenile fashion imaginable.
Trump is correct that the BBB blocks devastating tax increases and makes some modest but much-needed reforms to Medicaid. Musk is correct that deals that keep increasing the deficit by trillions aren’t putting us anywhere near a path to fiscal responsibility. We’d prefer if the bill were changed much more in Musk’s direction, but with only a couple of votes to spare in the House and Senate — and minimal political will, regardless — the legislation is unlikely to markedly improve.
If the Trump-Musk crack-up was inevitable, it’d be best if it were contained (Musk posts as of Thursday evening seemed de-escalatory). Musk’s transformative space business does very important work for the government, and as the nation’s most influential Milton Friedman acolyte and fiscal conservative, he has an important role to fulfill within the current Republican Party.
In short, both Trump and Musk should heed any better angels that have not already fled the scene.