Source: International Financial News
The relationship between US President Trump and the world's richest man, Musk, is rapidly deteriorating, with escalating insults on their respective social media platforms.
Just last week, they stood together in the Oval Office, declaring their enduring friendship, but by Thursday, they were exchanging real-time sarcasm and insults. The initial sadness, ingratitude, and disappointment quickly evolved into mutual threats.
The rift between them has been widening since Musk publicly opposed Trump's "Big and Beautiful" bill on Tuesday. Musk called the bill a "disgusting atrocity" that would destroy America's finances. On Thursday afternoon Eastern Time, Musk posted on his X platform that Trump would never have won back the White House without his help.
Trump called the billionaire "crazy" and threatened to cancel his companies' federal contracts. Musk retaliated by suggesting he would retire the Dragon spacecraft crucial to supporting the International Space Station. Tesla's stock immediately plummeted.
As a front-row spectator, this article will outline the timeline of their breakup.
Eastern Time 10:37 AM
Musk kicked off his "X" activity on Thursday by retweeting a "report" from the Christian satirical news site The Babylon Bee. The headline read: Congress Warns Delaying Spending Bill Could Postpone Nation's Destruction
Eastern Time 11:20 AM
The billionaire directly attacked the president, retweeting a 2013 Trump tweet criticizing Republicans for raising the debt ceiling. "How right he was," Musk said.
Eastern Time 11:46 AM
Musk retweeted another past message from Trump, from 2012, stating that no congressional member should be re-elected if the US budget is not balanced.
Around noon, Trump began responding to Musk's criticism. "Elon is angry because we accepted the electric vehicle mandate, you know, which is a huge amount for electric vehicles," he said. "They're making the electric vehicle industry difficult and want us to pay billions in subsidies. And Elon knew this from the beginning."
He continued, saying Musk understands the bill's inner workings. He said his relationship with Musk was good - but that relationship might be over.
"I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot."
Eastern Time 12:11 PM
Musk paused his criticism and praised the president's decision to cut California high-speed rail funding, calling it a wise move.
But eight minutes later, Musk seemed to immediately respond to Trump's electric vehicle mandate comments: "Whatever." The Tesla CEO stated he agreed to keep electric vehicle subsidy cuts in the bill but noted that oil and gas subsidies were unaffected (which was "very unfair!!"). He also criticized the bill's numerous "political baggage".
Eastern Time 12:25 PM
Then, posts continued to emerge. Musk stated he had never seen the bill.
Eastern Time 12:46 PM
Musk replied to X user Autism Capital, boasting about his role in the election, saying that without him, Trump would lose and the Democrats would control the House. He then added: "How ungrateful."
Eastern Time 1:37 PM
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 followed by posting a video of Trump praising Tesla outside the White House. "Remember this?" Musk said, pointing at the president.
Eastern Time 2:37 PM
Trump joined the debate on his "Truth Social" platform. He said he was asking the billionaire to leave and that Musk was "crazy".
The president then issued a massive threat to the world's richest man's businesses. He said the easiest way to save money would be to cut government contracts for Musk's companies. According to Bloomberg government data, SpaceX and Tesla have received a total of $22.5 billion from federal non-classified contracts since fiscal year 2000.
Eastern Time 2:48 PM
Musk responded to Trump's post: "This is simply a lie. How sad."
He then retweeted a tweet suggesting that terminating government contracts would lead to the dissolution of the International Space Station, accompanied by a smiley face. "Come on, let me have some fun..." he said.
Eastern Time 3:10 PM
Musk stated it was "time to drop a real bombshell", hinting that Trump's refusal to publish documents related to notorious New York financier Jeffrey Epstein was because the president himself was involved.
Eastern Time 4:09 PM
Musk subsequently threatened to retire SpaceX's "Dragon" spacecraft, which is responsible for transporting goods and personnel to the International Space Station.
As the argument continued into the afternoon, Tesla's stock plummeted, and investors panicked about Tesla's X platform.
Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Inc. urged someone to take away Musk's phone. By market close, Tesla's stock had fallen 14%, marking its largest decline since March.
