Author: Moonshot
Musk and Trump have been trading insults for four days, and this time they have completely fallen out.
The main stage of this farce is Musk's own platform X, mixed with the "incitement" from mainstream media like The Wall Street Journal and CBS, which can be considered the most exciting reality show recently and the traffic code for major social media platforms.
Because the verbal battle was so intense, with numerous elements and climaxes, it was both entertaining for mainstream media and left spectators stunned.
These two have been trending topics even on Weibo across the ocean | Image source: Weibo
Last week, Musk was still the White House's "first buddy", with Trump bidding farewell to Musk from the government efficiency department on May 30, reluctantly saying: "Elon will always be with us, helping along the way." Unexpectedly, they turned against each other in less than three days.
Musk directly transformed into an "anti-Trump pioneer", while Trump directly started criticizing "Elon is annoying." And in this farce, the biggest victim turned out to be: Tesla.
Is this ultimately a game of power or an imbalance of interests?
01 Tough Buddies Throwing Keyboards Are Truly Ruthless
The story began on June 3rd. Although Musk often has some "radical opinions" on X, that day he posted 25 tweets in a row, shouting "KILL THE BILL!"
He wasn't expressing his love for "Kill Bill", but was strongly opposing Trump's promoted "Big Beautiful Bill" tax and spending legislation.
The core of the "Big Beautiful Bill" is: directly raising the US debt ceiling by 4 trillion dollars, and making America "great again" through infrastructure and tax cuts.
As the former head of Doge, Musk hadn't reduced the government deficit by 1 trillion after several months, so this bill was a direct slap in his face.
Musk started speaking like an old keyboard warrior, calling it an "unbearable, huge, angry, pork-filled congressional spending bill, a disgusting abomination. Those voting for it should be ashamed."
He then claimed that once the "Big Beautiful Bill" passes, the US economy would "collapse again". What Musk didn't say was that he himself is one of the biggest players in the capital market.
Musk didn't forget to calculate for his fans, calling the "Big Beautiful Bill" an "outrageous bill filled with political donations" that would "significantly increase the already massive budget deficit to 2.5 trillion dollars, with Americans bearing this mountain of debt, and Congress is bankrupting the country!"
After venting his emotions, Musk wanted to take action, calling on his 200 million followers on X to call congressional representatives. "Call the representatives, pressure Congress, we can't let the country go bankrupt, kill this bill in one stroke!"
Additionally, among Musk's dozens of tweets were sarcastic comments about Trump's tariff policies, with numerous retweets supporting his views. He even quoted several of Trump's old posts from 2012-2013 to sarcastically comment, calling them "wise statements", "can't agree more 🇺🇸🇺🇸", and "where did this wise old man go? Has he been possessed?"
Master of sarcasm Musk | Image source: X
After Musk's two-day rant, Trump didn't respond, only having the White House press secretary publicly state that "President Trump knows Musk's view on the bill, but this won't change the president's stance, because it's a Big Beautiful Bill that he will resolutely push forward."
Then mainstream media started stirring up trouble. The Wall Street Journal first broke the story that Trump was already "fed up" with Musk in internal meetings, saying: "Musk wants to be a presidential advisor? I think he should first manage Tesla well!"
Musk's response was to accept interviews on CBS, Fox, and other TV stations, continuing to criticize the "Big Beautiful Bill", Congress, and the Republican Party, carefully avoiding Trump himself, with a "hitting the mountain to scare the tiger" approach.
Facing Musk's flood of attacks, Trump finally couldn't hold back, first stating in a White House interview, "I'm disappointed in Elon, I helped him a lot, and he knows more about this bill's impact than anyone. Suddenly he has an opinion, just because he discovered we're going to force electric car cuts."
He was practically saying: Musk, you don't really love America, you're just afraid your electric cars won't sell.
Musk seemed to be in the live broadcast, immediately posting a response: "Wrong, this bill was never shown to me."
Then he transformed into a war god, saying "Without me, Trump would have lost the election drama long ago, how ungrateful." Even more dramatically, he launched a poll: "Is it time to create a new party representing 80% of moderates?" During this, he sarcastically commented that "President Trump can only serve for 3.5 years, while my term will last decades".
Musk indeed has the capital to say this. He had spent at least $250 million helping Trump and other Republicans get elected in 2024, even willing to damage his and Tesla's public image.
This time Trump got angry too, starting to criticize Musk on his own social media platform Truth Social.
"Elon has become annoying, I asked him to leave and revoked that electric car mandate - forcing everyone to buy electric cars no one wants (he already knew I was going to do this months ago!) Now he's gone completely crazy!" This expressed his attitude towards Musk and subtly suggested that Musk is opposing the "Big Beautiful Bill" due to lost interests.
Trump then said "The best way to save hundreds of billions in the budget is to terminate the government subsidies and contracts Elon has received. I've always been surprised Biden hasn't done this!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Tesla's stock price plummeted, with a maximum drop of 14.26% that day, and a market value evaporation of about $150 billion.
Image source: Truth Social
Can you believe it? This two-day verbal battle hadn't even reached its peak. After Trump entered full confrontation mode, Musk completely tore off the mask of friendship.
"It's time to drop a bombshell, @ President Trump is on the Epstein list, and that's the real reason he doesn't want the list to be exposed." He ended with a murderous comment, "Have a nice day, DJT!"
Epstein, known for underage sexual transaction and sexual assault allegations, died mysteriously in prison in 2019. His list is the notorious "Lolita Island customer list".
This made the Democratic Party extremely happy, with various Democratic politicians seizing the opportunity to demand "release the documents, let us see them too."
Perhaps dissatisfied with Trump questioning his patriotic stance, Musk immediately announced, "In light of the president's statement about canceling my government contracts, SpaceX will retire the Dragon spacecraft in place."
It's worth noting that SpaceX is one of the largest aerospace contractors for the US government and a key partner of NASA, with current US manned space activities heavily dependent on SpaceX's "Dragon" spacecraft. Two months ago, two US astronauts who had been stranded in space for several months were brought back to Earth by NASA using SpaceX's "Dragon" spacecraft, saving America's "national dignity".
Musk's implication is: You accuse me of profiting from government contracts and only wanting to sell electric cars? Let me show you how much I've contributed to the United States.
Subsequently, he reposted several posts filled with "patriotic spirit" and responded "Yes" to posts supporting Trump's impeachment.
Now, Musk has questioned Trump's "reasonableness" as a president, and the two are completely beyond reconciliation.
But if asked who suffered the most in this verbal battle, it would be Tesla.
02 Tesla Caught in the Crossfire
From June 3 to June 6, Tesla's stock price was like a roller coaster, with its market value evaporating up to $150 billion in a single day, setting a historical record.
Investors saw Musk busy fighting with Trump and the unfriendly policy environment, and they fled en masse.
In 2024, the global electric vehicle market grew by 25%, but Tesla declined by 1%, with its US market share dropping from 70% in 2021 to less than 50% in 2024.
This year is even worse. Tesla's first-quarter 2025 sales have dropped to their lowest level in 3 years, with earnings plummeting 71%, and during the peak of the trade war, Tesla's stock price once plunged 45% within the year.
Tesla even warned investors that changes in political sentiment could reduce product sales.
This statement is almost directly saying: Musk's political adventure has "implicated" Tesla.
To make matters worse, consumers are not only not buying cars but also destroying them.
In recent months, a "Tesla Takedown" movement has swept across the United States, with Tesla service centers being vandalized and charging stations being burned.
The Wall Street Journal previously stated that Tesla is looking for a new leader | Source: Wall Street Journal
After news spread about Tesla's board of directors looking for a new CEO (which was officially denied), Musk quickly stepped back from Doge, stating that he would govern less and refocus his work on Tesla.
Trump's side isn't doing well either. His Trump Media & Technology Group's stock price dropped 8% during the verbal battle.
The crypto market is even more miserable, with Ethereum falling 8% and Bitcoin dropping $4,000 in a day.
Musk is ultimately a businessman, not a true politician. His brief "political experience" with Doge has long left him disillusioned. The "#FireElon" tag on X has been flooded, and he has received numerous death threats.
Trump's tariff policies have already caused Tesla's manufacturing costs to skyrocket. The Optimus robot project has also been stalled due to Chinese rare earth restrictions, and now SpaceX has openly fallen out with the US government and NASA.
The key is that these "pits" were dug by Musk himself in 2024, spending over $200 million to help and cheer for Trump's return to power in 2024.
Politicians set the trap, and businesses pay the price. Musk may now understand what it means when the carefully cultivated "leeks" are harvested by himself, with his own enterprises completely dragged down by his political adventure.
However, this breakup drama is both expected and unexpected.
After all, Trump has never been fond of the electric vehicle business. In 2013, he even mocked Tesla on Twitter for "burning money uselessly". Not to mention his 2024 campaign focusing on "America First", strongly supporting traditional manufacturing in the Midwest, and determined to make fuel cars and factory workers "great again".
And after Trump's election, Musk's insistence on the "Dark MAGA" path of elite governance has long displeased Trump's base of "redneck MAGA".
Put simply, Musk wants America to be the world's Iron Man, while Trump only wants Americans to drive back to their old pickup trucks.
This strong alliance ultimately fell through.
Of course, for these two White House drama protagonists, who are both businessmen, how the situation will evolve is still uncertain. They could easily become buddies again in an instant. The spectators are delighted, but the stock market and industries are the unfortunate ones.
