Trump and Musk Go Through Messy Breakup
A briefing on the bitter spat following Musk's departure from the Trump cabinet.
The Trump-Musk pair has now been irreparably broken. But how did we get here?
Trump’s goals since taking office have never been particularly grounded. Often, he flips on issues, follows the noise, and adopts any populist stance that sticks with his rabid MAGA base. The one consistent thread, however, is his ceaseless pursuit of gaining and centralizing power. This term in particular, his strategy is not very calculated; it’s to create chaos, force opponents to run in circles, and test what he can get away with. Trump was certainly using Musk as a criticism sponge as he was an easy fall guy; an embarrassing, socially inept plutocrat who did a Nazi salute on national television. In December of last year, billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy decided to withdraw from the Efficiency Department bid, likely to avoid a similar situation following an intra-MAGA argument over whether H-1B visa holders should be allowed into the country.
Musk, leading the Efficiency Department, had promised an impossible $2 trillion in government spending cuts pre-election, which was revised to $1 trillion post-election and then revised again to $160 billion in April of this year. The cuts focused on government contracts, removing DEIA policies, and targeted specific federal agencies. A report issued by the BBC found only $32.5 billion in cuts with some form of verifiable receipts, suggesting that the plan failed even by its own metric and just inflated its own numbers. An NPR report reviewing the contract cuts found that the initial claim of $55 billion was actually only $2 billion. The most damage was done to various federal agencies, where 59,000 federal workers were laid off under Trump. The Efficiency Department fronted most of the negative press surrounding its efforts to dismantle essential agencies, including USAID, the Department of Health & Human Services, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Housing & Urban Development, among others. Layoffs and cuts are still being made to smaller federal offices, and the Efficiency Department workers are still embedded in various agencies.
Conflicting Camps
As a libertarian extremist, Musk is the most ideologically opposed to ‘big government,’ becoming a mouthpiece for traditional conservatives who were disenfranchised with Trump’s gigantic $7.8 trillion budget deficit during his first term. The obvious contradiction is how all of Musk’s companies, especially Tesla and SpaceX, cannot function without government contracts, funding, and infrastructure. Getting involved in government is in his direct interest, just as all corporations manipulate and bend government to their will. At the same time, it is also in his interest to maintain a stable global economy, which supports the supply chain of materials, parts, and skilled labor.
The relationship between the two was always on shaky ground. Leading MAGA voice, Steve Bannon, has expressed vitriolic contempt for Musk, calling him a ‘parasite’ for his alleged pro-immigrant views. Much of the MAGA base was already showing signs of skepticism for Musk ever since the debate over HB-1 visas, though the base’s ideology seems to ebb and flow with Trump’s opinion being final.
Many pointed to the look of disgust on Trump’s face at a campaign rally as evidence that he secretly loathes Musk. The childish antics of jumping around the stage and being unable to form a coherent joke were so obviously embarrassing, it’s hard to believe Trump didn’t feel the same.
Another incident in March was reported when Trump denied Musk entry to a secret meeting in the Pentagon briefing with cabinet members about the possibility of war with China. According to Bannon, this incident ‘changed everything’ for Musk as this snub was a move to restrain his ambition for a more involved role in the administration.
Looking back to December, Trump originally appeased Musk’s demands at the expense of the Republican establishment by siding with him over the budget resolution. Speaker Johnson’s budget was negotiated and set to pass, but Musk abruptly demanded that Republicans vote against it, to which Trump concurred. The proverbial can was kicked down the road a few months when a new budget resolution passed in February. Then the reconciliation spending bill would become the next battleground. Ultimately, Musk’s anti-protectionist beliefs contributed to another rift between him and the rest of the oligarchs in the Trump cabinet.
Collapse Into Irrelevance
Throughout March 2025, an unassuming election was coming up for the elected Supreme Court position in the swing state of Wisconsin. Such a race would usually receive little attention from national media; however, this was no ordinary race. Following the tumultuous 2024 Presidential election, where Democrats failed to conjure much resistance to the outwardly fascist Trump campaign, this would be the first election to put a barometer on the country’s political mood. This would tip the court in either party’s favor as the Democrats endorsed Susan Crawford and the Republicans endorsed Brad Schimel, who was supported aggressively by Elon Musk’s over $25 million contribution. Musk was deeply involved in this campaign, putting himself at the epicenter of media coverage, proudly holding an event where he offered $1 million checks to two Republican voters at a rally in Green Bay. For Musk, this was an important opportunity to put weight behind his threat that he would aggressively fund the primary challenger of any Republican congressperson who stepped out of line.
On election day, April 1st, this opportunity was obliterated by Crawford’s overwhelming victory thanks to the incredible Democrat turnout to counter this blatant corruption. In mid-March, some polls showed the race tied, and by late March, polls began to reveal the negative impact of Musk, with Crawford leading by about 5 points. The result was an astounding 10.2-point win for Crawford, a complete reversal of the Presidential election’s 0.8-point gap in favor of Republicans. Some of the largest swings were in the rural southwest of the state, with double-digit swings toward Democrats by 17 and 18 points in Grant, Lafayette, Richland, and Jackson counties. The election was a disaster for the prospect of Musk-backed challengers taking down Republican incumbents.
There’s nothing Trump hates more than a loser. Not only did this prove that the threat was utterly baseless, but it showed that Musk would have a net-negative effect on candidates he supports, thus triggering a subsurface crack to form between the two.
The Brawl That Broke the Camel’s Back
In April, it was reported that in a cabinet meeting, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Musk got into a shouting match over the role of the IRS. The two have strong disagreements going back to the control over the Treasury, as Musk preferred Howard Lutnick as secretary. Bessent believes in a more reserved approach to reducing government, hence the conflict with Musk, who has haphazardly ransacked agencies, something Bessent thinks is ineffective. It was later reported by The Washington Post that, according to Steve Bannon, the feud boiled over in the hallway after that meeting. Bessent said to Musk, “You’re a fraud. You’re a total fraud,” to which Musk “thrust his shoulder into Bessent’s rib cage like a rugby player,” then, “Bessent started to hit Musk back, and the fight had to be broken up by several bystanders.” The brawl likely led to the announcement shortly after that Musk would be taking a step back from the Efficiency Department to support Tesla, which experienced a 52% drop in stock price from its high in December.
After Musk accumulated so much negative public sentiment, Trump likely decided it was time to discard him, as he has done with many other advisors and appointees. The combination of Musk’s ravenous drug addiction, the increasing disdain for him coming from the rest of the cabinet, his disheveled appearance, and his refusal to dress appropriately all added up to this inevitable moment.
On May 30th, Trump held a formal sendoff event in the Oval Office for Elon Musk, marking the end of his time in the administration. Everything at the event was cordial. Trump praised him for his service and gave him a golden key. The elephant in the room was Musk’s black eye, which he apparently refused to cover with makeup. Musk said that his five-year-old son punched him, something that pretty much no one believed. Still, no answers have emerged on the source of the injury besides speculation that drugs were involved.
The Inevitable Clash of Egos
On June 3rd, Musk posted a message scolding the congress members who voted for the ‘Big Beautiful’ spending bill. With no influence left in the cabinet and unable to weaponize his cash pile, Musk had nothing left but to throw a tantrum online.
The spending bill set to pass the Senate sometime next month will raise the debt ceiling and is expected to add approximately $240 billion to the annual spending deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this bill would cut Medicare coverage for an estimated 10.9 million people over a decade. Cuts to SNAP benefits (food stamps) are estimated to be in the range of $29.4 billion per year, with the expectation of increasing work requirements, reducing benefit payouts, and pushing people out of eligibility, thereby taking food out of the mouths of poor families and children. The bill spends big, allocating $350 billion for border security and adding another $150 billion to the already bloated defense budget. To compensate, it will make the 2017 tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy permanent, which has cost the federal government between $1 and $2 trillion in lost revenue. According to the Institute on Tax Policy, “From 2018 to 2021, the top corporations in the US saved a combined $240 billion in taxes after the cuts.” Important to Musk is the rolling back of clean-energy tax credits, slashing solar tax credits, and the $7,500 consumer credit for EVs, which Tesla built its company on.
On June 4th, Musk fired off a series of tweets and replies complaining about the new spending bill and the deficit. Musk quote-tweeted and replied, agreeing with Libertarian Senator Rand Paul, Congressman Thomas Massie, as well as John Rose and Mike Lee. Others in his cohort were accounts associated with the rather childish WallStreetBets Reddit community and tech accounts that echo chamber ideas he puts out. Musk insisted that raising the ceiling was going to put the country into ‘debt slavery.’
On June 5th, Trump had a meeting with the German chancellor. Musk was already online litigating some decade-old tweets from Trump.
Trump took a question about Musk’s recent comments on the spending bill. Trump claimed they had a good relationship and a good sendoff. Then said;
“Elon’s upset because we took away the EV mandate which was a lot of money for electric vehicles. They’re having a hard time, those electric vehicles. They want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidies. Elon knew this from the beginning, he knew it a long time ago. That’s been— I’d say, JD— that hasn’t changed, that’s been right from the beginning.”
“We’ve done a great job— Elon knew that. Elon endorsed me very strongly. He actually went up and campaigned for me. I think I would’ve won— Susie said I would’ve won Pennsylvania easily anyway.”
“He became a little bit different, and I can understand that. But— he knew every aspect of this bill, he knew it better than almost anybody. He never had a problem until right after he left. If you saw the statements he made about me… He said the most beautiful things about me. And he hasn’t said bad about me personally, but I’m sure that’ll be next. I’m very disappointed in Elon, I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
Musk was watching this presser and posted some live reactions. The reply affirmed that he felt hurt that the spending bill had overridden the ‘cuts’ he had made.
Trump, using his own social media site, TruthSocial, responded with a statement that initiated the online clash, reiterating that Musk was aware of the EV subsidy cuts. Musk called it a lie then ‘revealed’ that water was wet, saying, “Trump is in the Epstein files,” something that was well known for years. Trump’s relationship with Epstein is well documented, going back over thirty years, which includes six flight logs on his plane. The White House did a performative ‘declassification’ in February, but the entire thing was filled with redactions, and even previously released parts were blacked out.
Musk would continue tweeting throughout the night, suggesting that Trump should be impeached and that JD Vance should take over as President. Musk continued to retweet posts that agreed with his position.
Fallout
Steve Bannon, who leads the current of MAGA thought, viciously attacked Musk on Thursday, stating on his podcast that Musk should have his immigration status checked, his drug use, and links to China investigated. Bannon called Musk an illegal alien and said he should be deported. Musk replied to this on Twitter, saying that Bannon was ‘peak r-tard,’ a ‘communist r-tard’ and a criminal. Journalist Michael Wolff, who’s familiar with intra-White House drama, suggested that Bannon was using this opportunity to get closer to Trump. Bannon went so far as to say that Musk’s businesses should be seized with an executive order, claiming that he “doesn’t know anything about the real world.”
In the days after, Musk seemed to cool down and ended up deleting some of the tweets he made. It was reported that on June 9th, Musk called Trump to apologize for the public meltdown. On Wednesday, the 11th, Musk publicly posted that he regretted his previous comments. Trump didn’t show much sympathy, stating to reporters that he had no interest in talking to Musk. It seems that Trump, with all the leverage, has no interest in keeping him around, and the ball is in Musk’s court to make the apologies. Later in the week, Musk was aligning himself with the Trump administration’s handling of the Los Angeles Uprising, praising the brazen deployment of the military.
Something to pay attention to going forward is their alignment and whether Musk really meant it when he suggested starting a new political party to counter establishment Republicans in favor of libertarian types. Centrist Democrats made the bizarre move to lean on the side of Musk to oppose Trump and even went as far as to suggest recruiting him. Congressman Ro Khanna said that Democrats should “be in a dialogue” with Musk and try “to convince him that the Democratic Party has more of the values that he agrees with.” Congressman Ritchie Torres echoed this, saying, “I’m a believer in redemption, and he is telling the truth about the legislation.” Such a move would undoubtedly alienate the entire base of liberal voters who have been holding demonstrations against his work gutting the federal government. More progressives in the Democratic Party, rallying around the ‘Fighting Oligarchy Tour,’ have been even more successful in mobilizing, yet they are still aggressively rejected by the establishment.
Ultimately, this represents yet another instance of someone allowing themselves to be betrayed by Trump. It has been clear throughout the last decade that Trump operates on pure loyalty and the ‘what have you done for me recently’ principle. Musk believed that by buying Trump’s presidency, he would be rewarded with equivalent power and influence. He was proven wrong in humiliating fashion, just like every other person who doesn’t bend the knee and devote absolute loyalty. Musk could’ve followed Marco Rubio, a neocon who has always hated Trump but made the conscious decision to get in line for his own survival. Unlike others in the administration who push back, Musk’s erratic drug use and revolting behavior put himself on the fast track for disposal from an administration that had little use for him going forward.
What really happened, Elon Musk meant everything he said, but he came to his senses 🤔 and realized 😳 all the money 💰 he's receiving from government contracts Trump has given him, and the amount he could lose. We all know Trump is thin skin, and will turn his back on you, like putting on a cheap suit. So Elon Musk has just decided it would be in his best interest to change tactic. 🤣