TJ Manotoc

Trump and Musk in stunning public divorce

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><iframe width="727" height="409" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/brjn9bP_Byg" title="&#x27;Without me, Trump would have lost the election&#x27; - Elon Musk | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>Donald Trump and Elon Musk&#x27;s unlikely political marriage exploded in a fiery public divorce Thursday, with the US president threatening to strip the billionaire of his huge government contracts in revenge.</p><p>Trump said in a televised Oval Office diatribe that he was &quot;very disappointed&quot; after his former aide and top donor criticized his &quot;big, beautiful&quot; spending bill before Congress.</p><p>The pair then hurled insults at each other on social media -- with Musk even posting, without proof, that Trump was referenced in government documents on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.</p><p>The row could have major political and economic fallout, as shares in Musk&#x27;s Tesla car company plunged and the South African-born tech tycoon vowed that he would end a critical US spaceship program.</p><p>Speculation had long swirled that a relationship between the world&#x27;s richest person and its most powerful could not last long -- but the speed of the meltdown took Washington by surprise.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m very disappointed in Elon. I&#x27;ve helped Elon a lot,&quot; Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz looked on silently.</p><div>&quot;Elon and I had a great relationship. I don&#x27;t know if we will anymore.&quot;<br/><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hBrGVEB3bmc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>A hurt-sounding Trump, 78, noted in a 10-minute diatribe that it had been only a week since he hosted a grand farewell for Musk as he left the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).</p><p>Trump later called Musk &quot;crazy&quot; and insisted he had asked the tycoon to leave because he was &quot;wearing thin.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;INGRATITUDE&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><iframe width="727" height="409" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H2cgHOweIvA" title="Trump says &#x27;not bothered&#x27; by reports of Elon Musk&#x27;s drug use | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>Musk hit back in real time on his X social media platform, saying the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without him and slamming Trump for &quot;ingratitude.&quot;</p><p>As the spat got increasingly vindictive, Musk also posted that Trump &quot;is in the Epstein files,&quot; referring to US government documents on Epstein, whose 2019 jail cell suicide, while awaiting trial, sparked a major conspiracy theory.</p><p>&quot;Have a nice day, DJT!&quot; added Musk.</p><p>White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told AFP that Musk&#x27;s Epstein tweet &quot;is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the &#x27;One Big Beautiful Bill&#x27; because it does not include the policies he wanted.&quot;</p><p>Musk, who was Trump&#x27;s biggest campaign donor to the tune of $300 million, separately claimed the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without his support and accused him of &quot;such ingratitude.&quot;</p><p>He replied &quot;yes&quot; to a post suggesting Trump should be impeached, and blasted Trump&#x27;s global tariffs for risking a recession.</p><p>Trump finally suggested hitting the &quot;crazy&quot; entrepreneur where it hurts, threatening Musk&#x27;s multibillion-dollar government contracts including for launching rockets and for the use of the Starlink satellite service.</p><p>&quot;The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon&#x27;s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,&quot; Trump said on Truth Social.</p><p>Again Musk fired back, with the SpaceX chief saying he would begin &quot;decommissioning&quot; his company&#x27;s Dragon spacecraft -- vital for ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station -- in response.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;ABOMINATION&#x27; </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>When the crossfire finally relented after several astonishing hours, Tesla had seen more than $100 billion wiped off the company&#x27;s value.</p><p>Trump and Musk&#x27;s whirlwind relationship had initially blossomed, with the president backing DOGE&#x27;s cost-cutting rampage through the US government and the tycoon sleeping over at the White House and traveling on Air Force One.</p><p>But the 53-year-old ultimately lasted just four months on the job, becoming increasingly disillusioned with the slow pace of change and clashing with some of Trump&#x27;s cabinet members.</p><p>The two men had however kept tensions over Trump&#x27;s tax and spending mega-bill relatively civil -- until Musk described the plan, the centerpiece of Trump&#x27;s domestic policy agenda for his second term, as an &quot;abomination&quot; because he says it will increase the US deficit.</p><p>Washington will now intently watch the fallout from the row.</p><p>Musk posted a poll on whether he should form a new political party -- a seismic threat from a man who has signaled he is ready to use his wealth to unseat Republican lawmakers who disagree with him.</p><p>Trump ally Steve Bannon -- a vocal opponent of Musk -- meanwhile called for the tycoon to be deported, the New York Times reported.</p>

<p>Donald Trump and Elon Musk's unlikely political marriage exploded in a fiery public divorce Thursday, with the US president threatening to strip the billionaire of his huge government contracts in revenge.</p>

Donald Trump and Elon Musk's unlikely political marriage exploded in a fiery public divorce Thursday, with the US president threatening to strip the billionaire of his huge government contracts in revenge.

Trump and Musk alliance melts down in blazing public row

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Trump and Musk alliance melts down in blazing public row

Agence France-Presse

Published June 06, 2025 04:51 AM PHT

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Updated June 06, 2025 02:43 PM PHT

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