When Elon Musk left his position at the Department of Government Efficiency last week, he said he planned to remain a friend and adviser to President Trump. But that relationship quickly soured this week after Musk criticized Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill as a “disgusting abomination.”
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 3, 2025
Trump then told reporters on Thursday that he is “very disappointed” in Musk.
“I’ve helped Elon a lot,” he said, adding that Musk “knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here.”
He suggested the billionaire “only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the [electric vehicle] mandate.”
Musk spent much of Thursday posting on X about his opposition to the “big, beautiful” bill, which aims to cut $1.5 trillion in government spending but also increases the debt limit by $4 trillion. The U.S. government is more than $36 trillion in debt.
Where is the man who wrote these words?
Was he replaced by a body double!? https://t.co/N4Mliip5U4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
Musk eventually poured fuel on the fire by suggesting he could support a third party challenge to Democrats and Republicans.
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
Trump, for his part, claimed he had asked Musk to leave the White House and again insisted that Musk’s distaste for the “big, beautiful” bill is only because “I took away his EV mandate.”
He then floated the idea of ending Musk’s governmental subsidies and contracts as the CEO of Tesla.
Musk then accused Trump of lying about his departure from the White House.
Such an obvious lie. So sad. https://t.co/sOu9vqMVfX
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
And then the feud took on a new tone, as Musk claimed Trump has not released the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking files because Trump was involved.
Time to drop the really big bomb:@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.
Have a nice day, DJT!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
“Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out,” he added.
Trump responded by saying he doesn’t mind Musk “turning against” him.
Musk then said his company SpaceX would “begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft” because of Trump’s comments about canceling Musk’s government contracts.
In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately pic.twitter.com/NG9sijjkgW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
Musk also reshared a post that said, “President vs Elon. Who wins? My money’s on Elon. Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him.” Musk agreed, saying, “Yes.”
And then, he went on to criticize the president’s tariffs.
The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year https://t.co/rbBC11iynE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
On Friday, Trump told Fox News that he has no interest in speaking to Musk. “Elon’s totally lost it,” he said.
The president also said he is not concerned about Musk floating the idea of forming a new political party.
White House aides told Fox News that Trump administration staffers might try to speak with Musk.