Last week, the Internet witnessed the spectacular implosion of one of the most unconventional alliances in modern American politics. What had once been an uneasy partnership between the billionaire CEO of Tesla and X, Elon Musk, and U.S. President Donald Trump, blew into a full-blown public feud.
Mr. Musk accused the 78-year-old President of “total ingratitude”, posting on X: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election. Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51–49 in the Senate.”
To this, Mr. Trump shot back on Truth Social, saying, “I would have won Pennsylvania regardless of Elon. I’m very disappointed with Elon.”
But the rift had not appeared overnight. Their relationship had been fraying for months — quietly at first, then more openly, until it finally collapsed.
A rocky start
Mr. Musk was never a fan of Mr. Trump.
In the lead-up to the 2016 election, Mr. Musk openly supported Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. “I feel a bit stronger that he is not the right guy,” he said of Mr. Trump at the time in an interview with CNBC. “He doesn’t seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States.”
Yet, after Mr. Trump won the election, Mr. Musk joined a handful of White House advisory boards, including Mr. Trump’s ‘manufacturing jobs council’. The alliance did not last long. Mr. Musk left those roles just months later, citing Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords. “Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,” he tweeted in June 2017.
Over the years, their paths occasionally crossed, but the relationship remained distant.
In 2020, Mr. Trump, at the SpaceX launch in Florida, praised Mr. Musk, saying: “I speak to him all the time. Great guy. He’s one of our great brains. We like great brains. And Elon has done a fantastic job.”
Mr. Musk, however, did not reciprocate the praise.
Later in 2022, Mr. Musk purchased Twitter and later rebranded it as ‘X’ in July 2023. One of his first moves was to reinstate Mr. Trump’s previously banned account (after finding his tweets were “highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts” that took place in the January 6 Capitol attack.)
Though Mr. Trump did not immediately return to posting on X, Mr. Musk’s move was largely seen as pro-Trump. Around the same time, he also began aligning more openly with Republicans. “In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them,” Mr. Musk tweeted.
Growing camaraderie
By 2024, as Mr. Trump prepared for a second term in the White House, their camaraderie deepened, with Mr. Musk playing an increasingly visible role in backing Mr. Trump’s campaign and policies.
He officially endorsed the Republican candidate, following an assassination attempt on Mr. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Mr. Musk had tweeted. It was seen as a striking moment of public solidarity.
Not only did Mr. Musk use his X social media platform to boost Mr. Trump’s efforts to get re-elected, but also offered financial support. Mr. Musk’s pro-Trump spending group America PAC also played a major role in helping mobilise and register voters in battleground States that could decide the election. The Guardian reported that Mr. Musk spent almost $300 million in support of Mr. Trump.
On the night of the election victory, Mr. Trump had said, “A star is born”, referring to Mr. Musk. And days later, the Tesla CEO emerged as a key ally of the President. He was appointed to lead a newly created government cutting agency, called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Two weeks into the job, Mr. Musk said he loved Mr. Trump “as much as a straight man can love another man”.
Their closeness was on full display from flying together on Air Force One to dancing together on New Year’s Eve to the disco hit YMCA. Democrats jokingly even referred to Mr. Musk as “President Elon.”
In a joint interview with Fox News in February, both heaped praise on each other. Mr. Trump said that Mr. Musk and his “100 geniuses” were ensuring his executive orders got implemented to avoid the experience of past administrations that were frustrated by bureaucracy.
“He has got some very brilliant young people working for him that dress much worse than him actually. They dress in just t-shirts; you would not know they have 180 IQ,” Mr. Trump said, praising Mr. Musk as a “leader” who “gets it done”. Mr. Musk, in return, praised the leader.
And in March, the White House lawn was turned into a Tesla showroom. Mr. Trump stepped out from a shiny red Model S instead of his usual black Limousine, and later he even purchased the car.
However, seven months later, the bromance began to cool. In April, Mr. Musk said he would be spending less time at the DOGE.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Musk’s White House visits declined towards the end of his tenure. At first, he was there five to seven days a week. Then three. By the end, only occasionally.
Tensions boil
In May, tension started to simmer. Mr. Musk criticised the White House-backed tax and budget proposal, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act. “I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending Bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Mr. Musk told the TV programme CBS Sunday Morning.
Mr. Trump, however, was reportedly less angry than some of his advisers about Mr. Musk’s criticism, according to The Wall Street Journal.
On May 31, the two men made a public appearance together in the Oval Office to mark the end of the tech billionaire’s tenure as a special government employee, after 138 days in the office. Even then, Mr. Trump insisted that Mr. Musk was “not really leaving” his team.
Breaking point
But once out, the billionaire resumed his criticism against the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’, saying it would drive up the federal budget deficit and undo the cost-cutting work of DOGE. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Mr. Musk wrote on X on June 1.
Mr. Trump responded sharply days later, expressing dismay. “ I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this Bill better than almost anybody sitting here,” he said. “ He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem.”
The spat intensified to a level that Mr. Musk even floated the idea of launching a new political party in America in a poll on X, that would represent “the 80% in the middle”.
He also levelled major allegations against Mr. Trump, saying the President was named in the unreleased Epstein files, a reference to documents linked to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He later deleted this tweet.
To this, Mr. Trump went on his Truth Social platform on Friday and posted a statement attributed to the Epstein criminal defence attorney David Schoen that vehemently denied Mr. Musk’s accusation.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, also threatened to cancel Mr. Musk’s U.S. government contracts, and the President’s ally Steve Bannon suggested that the South African-born American citizen “should be deported from the country immediately”.
The financial fallout was swift and severe. Tesla’s shares tumbled 14.2%, wiping approximately $152 billion off its market value. Mr. Musk’s personal net worth plunged by $33 billion on June 6 alone. By the end of the week, the usually outspoken billionaire had gone quiet — sidelined, isolated, and, some say, stunned.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has reportedly begun exploring alternative tech partnerships, with names like Peter Thiel and Palantir-linked firms.
Whether this is a temporary rift or the final chapter in their alliance remains to be seen. But for now, the bromance is over.
Published – June 09, 2025 05:30 am IST
