Trump vs Elon Musk: Feud between two plays out online with series of posts
Trump, Elon Musk hurl insults, accusations in feud
In a feud heard around the world, President Donald Trump threatened to cut Elon Musk off government contracts while the latter called for the impeachment of the Commander in Chief.
LOS ANGELES - An intense feud between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump is playing out publicly for all to see with a series of social media posts from the two former companions.
When did the Musk-Trump feud begin?
On Tuesday, June 3, Musk slammed President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" calling it an "abomination."
"I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong, You know it," Musk posted on X.
In response, Trump said Musk "only developed a problem" with the bill because it rolls back tax credits for electric vehicles.
Musk fired back, saying the bill was passed so fast that no one in Congress had time to read it. The bill, that Musk referred to as "The Big Ugly Bill," would increase the deficit to $2.5 trillion.
RELATED: Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill is a 'disgusting abomination,' Elon Musk now says
The president later responded by saying on his social media network, "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts."
"Go ahead, make my day," Musk quickly replied on X. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO then threatened to decommission its Dragon spacecraft, which is used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station.
Feud explodes on social media
By Thursday, their feud intensified as millions read their posts on social media.
In the morning, Musk posted on X saying, "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate."
That post was in response to a video clip of Trump in the Oval Office, saying "Elon endorsed me strongly, he went up and campaigned for me. I think I would have won Pennsylvania easily anyway. I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill, better than almost anyone sitting here. He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. He only developed a problem when he found out we were going to cut the EV mandate, because that's billions and billions of dollars."
Musk called for Trump’s impeachment and said his tariffs would cause a recession in the second half of the year. Musk also created a poll on X asking people if it's time to "create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?"
Epstein files
Throughout Thursday, the two made several back and forth comments about each other. By afternoon, Musk accused Trump of "being in the Epstein files."
"Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!" Musk wrote online, followed by a another post that said "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."
RELATED: Musk says 'Trump is in the Epstein files' as public feud escalates
Also on Thursday, Trump said his relationship with Musk might be over.
"Remember, he was here for a long time. You saw a man who was very happy when he stood behind the oval desk … Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore. He worked hard and he did a good job," Trump added. "And I'll be honest, I think he misses the place. I think he got out there and all of a sudden he wasn't in this beautiful Oval Office."
As their war of words continued, Tesla's stock plunged more than 14%. By the end of the trading day, $150 billion of Tesla’s value had been erased.
Musk departs from Oval Office
On May 28, Musk officially stepped away from his role as Special Government Employee in the Trump administration.
"As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending," Musk posted on X,. "The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."
READ MORE: Elon Musk leaves Trump administration after slamming ‘big beautiful bill’
He was tasked with leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) an initiative created by Trump to reduce federal spending.
The Source: Information for this story came from a series of social media posts by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, along with an interview with Trump in the Oval Office.