Clash of the Titans: Trump and Musk's Public Fallout Sends Shockwaves Through Washington

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Clash of the Titans: Trump and Musk's Public Fallout Sends Shockwaves Through Washington

 

What began as a quiet disagreement between two of America’s most polarizing figures—Donald Trump and Elon Musk—has erupted into a full-blown feud, with consequences that could reshape the political and business landscapes. The relationship between president and the tech billionaire, once marked by mutual admiration and cooperation, has rapidly deteriorated in full public view, leaving Washington bracing for impact.

President Trump talks about Elon Musk.

The media will try to take what he said here and turn it into a big deal. It’s not.

I trust both Trump and Elon. I don’t think either men are the problem.

You want to know who the real problem is?

Congress.pic.twitter.com/SMjLSZWFlb

— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) June 5, 2025

 

The tension reached a boiling point during Trump's remarks in the Oval Office on Thursday. With a tone that resembled that of a jilted partner, Trump voiced astonishment at Musk’s recent criticism of his much-touted tax and spending initiatives. He scoffed at the idea that Musk’s financial support played a decisive role in his election victory last year and accused Musk of shifting allegiances simply because Tesla, his electric vehicle company, stands to lose under the Republican plan to scrap EV tax credits.

 

 

In response, Musk fired back with trademark brevity on his platform X, telling his 220 million followers, “Whatever.” He denied any personal stake in the subsidies, framing his concern around America’s ballooning national debt. “Such ingratitude,” Musk added, dismissing Trump’s assertions and claiming Democrats could have triumphed in the election even without his backing.

 

 

But Musk didn’t stop there. He launched into a barrage of attacks throughout the day, including a pointed and evidence-free insinuation that Trump might be mentioned in unreleased documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The BBC has reached out to the White House for comment, but the damage was already done.

 

 

This unraveling marks a sharp turn from the powerful alliance the two once shared. Musk had even held a unique position within the Trump administration, heading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency—nicknamed “Doge.” His tenure saw the dismantling of various federal agencies and mass dismissals of public sector employees, an approach that drew both admiration and controversy.

 

Yet, behind the scenes, observers always speculated about when this alliance would crack under the weight of two massive egos. That moment seems to have come. Musk’s formal government role ended just last week, capped with a warm Oval Office farewell and the symbolic gifting of a golden key. That farewell now feels hollow—Trump has made it clear Musk is no longer welcome. “Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump said on Thursday, notably speaking in the past tense.

 

The feud could have real policy consequences. Congressional Republicans may struggle to maintain unity behind Trump’s legislation if Musk begins to support dissenters with his enormous wealth and influence. The billionaire’s ability to fund political challengers in GOP primaries could pose a serious threat to Trump’s grip on the party.

 

Trump, known for his combative political style, quickly retaliated. “The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts,” he wrote on his social media platform. Investors were quick to react—Tesla’s stock plummeted 14% on Thursday alone.

 

Still, Musk is far from defenseless. His vast fortune and reach give him the power to shape elections and sway public opinion. While it remains to be seen if he can take down the entire Trump machine, he certainly has the means to make it costly.

 

Democrats, meanwhile, are watching from the sidelines, uncertain whether to embrace Musk or simply enjoy the spectacle. "It's a zero-sum game," Democratic strategist Liam Kerr told Politico. "Anything that he does that moves more toward Democrats hurts Republicans."

 

For now, it seems the political world must adjust to this seismic rift. And if Musk’s words are any indication, the feud won’t be short-lived. “Trump has 3.5 years left as president,” Musk posted on X, “but I will be around for 40-plus years.”

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from BBC | X  2025-06-06

 

 

[Tug]

Looks to me that Elon is coming out swinging and trump is shall we say a bit tepid 😂 not to worry trump’s festering he will up to his usual tweet storming soon lol 😂 hey be fun if Elon kicks him off X !!

[kwonitoy]

 Need to stock up on >>>🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

[HappyExpat57]

This was predicted a while back. You can't put two indescribably egotistic nepo babies together, sharing their dirty little secrets with each other, and not expect their bromance to ultimately blow up.

 

 

[daveAustin]

Clash of the children more like. Inevitable that this kind of thing would happen between two narcissistic kids. Wonder what the maga lot think of it. 

[sharot724]

Just now, daveAustin said:

Clash of the children more like. Inevitable that this kind of thing would happen between two narcissistic kids. Wonder what the maga lot think of it. 

Should be a good reaction as maga are masters of the "never ending wiggles"

[HappyExpat57]

4 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

Clash of the children more like. Inevitable that this kind of thing would happen between two narcissistic kids. Wonder what the maga lot think of it. 

MAGA politicians are between a rock and a hard spot. Either way they're gonna piss someone off and many coming up for re-election in 2026 will be voted out.

[Jim Blue]

Back to school girls !

[Hummin]

The wonder boy turns out to be a black sheep

 

Waiting for the revenge of the nerds, dr Evil will reappear 

[Hummin]

This guy have quite reasonable biased updates, but at least he can relate to valid media updates and credible sources. I’m not sure he ever sleeps anymore, to much going on. 
 

 

 

[Denim]

I was one of many who predicted  this.

 

Totally impossible for two people  with such inflated egos to get along with each other for any length of time.

 

Now they will both be hell bent on slinging as much mud at each other as possible.

[dinsdale]

Not true. The biggest reasons Trump won was the middle ground policies he ran on and the Democrat's fielded a cackling moron thinking colour and gender would be enough to beat Trump.

[spidermike007]

I predict this goon will only go after Musk on every level possible, he will try to cancel his government contracts, he will try to steal his money, you will try to cancel all the Tesla tax credits, and he will try to cripple the man for having the audacity to tell it like he sees it, and to speak the truth, something that you never, ever should do around Trump, as he abhors truth on every level possible. Truth has always been the enemy of the huckster and scam artist. 

 

Musk's money helped to get a lot of congress people and senators re-elected and if Trump wages this battle against him, there is no doubt he will withdraw his support from any upcoming campaigns, and one congress and Senatorial race after another will be lost, which of course will be a net gain for the American people. And just another loss for Trump.

 

Trump has overreached to a stunning degree, he completely overestimates America's relevance, and he is about to suffer some of the biggest and most humiliating losses of his life. He deserves that. 

[blaze master]

I thought Elon was a fascist nazi.....oh well there goes that narrative.

[save the frogs]

Epstein files?

 

Will Musk take Trump down? 

 

 

[JaxxBKK]

A friend sent me Musk's post on X overnight.

 

I was never much concerned with the procecution of men that were blackmailed having had a bit of sex or hand jobs from a handful of delinquent teens year or two away from legal age of consent in numerous countries including UK. I think Prince Andrew got a really raw deal in particular. This occurs here in Thailand routinely. Moreover, I suspect Maxwell wasn't any more culpable than Epstein.

 

What I want to know is their involvement with Mossad and possibly ShinBet. Can they be established as agents? These are high crimes. Can it be established that Mossad set up this blackmail operation and set it upon US citizens? Can it be established that the blackmail was to be used - was used to influence economic, social and political outcomes? Of course, no one would be the least bit surprised over any of this. But the moral handwringing over teens returning time and again to engage in sex services hardly speaks well for them. I'm not moralizing - just pointing this out. Finally, much of this occurred outside the US and we'll over statue of limitations although the latter may be set aside in some cases.

 

The feud is very unfortunate. Many years ago I saw Musk as a welfare queen. Over time I came to admire his ability to accomplish and produce. I'm very much a Musk fan despite his faults and venture failures. I respect the hell out of the man. He gave six months of his life to the nation with DOGE and was insulted and mocked daily along with weekly lawsuits.

 

DOGE was about saving the nation. Anti Trumpers do not want to save the nation. They want to continue to line their pockets. While understandable - it's also sort of treasonous. Those that inject their petty emotions into this briar patch as routinely done on this forum are politically and emotionally retarded. Yes, Trump is bombastic, aggressive, abrasive, random and at times buffoonish - but it's the medicine the nation needs.

 

Musk clearly understood this. His anger was larger directed at the BBB which the GOPers and Trump were hashing out. There is much Libertarians and Populists to hate about this bill and the pork is in fact ridiculous.

 

I've always said the Dems and GOP both love spending money. The Dems waste it on the poor (for votes) and the GOP waste it on MIC and tax cuts for wealthy (votes).

 

Trump must serve his constituency and deliver somewhat to those that helped him in office as any politician. Yet, this bill smacks of making a grand deal with the devil. The shi+bird GOPers in Congress are just as anti Trump as Jamie Ratfink or Jazzzmine Crotchpit. McConnell and especially Graham are traitors to the US. The entire lot needs to go.

 

The common Musk/Trump denominator I thought existed was cutting waste, fraud and abuse. Trump ran on it and out of the gate it appeared something was finally going to change. If government spending wasn't bad enough the spending under Biden was crushing and unsustainable. That is simply a fact.

 

* As a side note I would urge those critical of that economic judgement to read top financiers and economists on the debt.

 

I have little doubt Trump is in the Epstein files in some way great or small. This is obviously a huge embarrassment and imo will taint the President's years in office. It's sad bc he has suffered so much injustice over the years by the Deep State.

 

Understand that Trump is a symbol of defiance and an agent for change. Trump is totally punk rock. That's why Johnny Rotten even kinda supports the guy. Most Trump detractors don't in the least understand the MAGA movement which  has its origins in the tea party movement. Those living outside the US and any inside either forget or have never heard of the Tea Party (another anti spending movement).

 

DEI was a total clusterfk. It damaged the US irreparably as it was designed to do. If you we're so simple-minded to support BLM, activist gay movements, trannifcation and butcherybof children, the insanity of men in women's underwear and sports you are part of the problem. Absolute laughable perspective that gay white men and overweight and unattractive middle-aged white women that support DEI rubbish are somehow given a pass on being white - exempted is patently absurd. If Trump didn't come into office and cut that down that movement would come for you. It would eat its own as the cliche goes. The notion that white people have something to apologize for is also a sham. The Democratic party lost all of its alpha males never to return and is now left with only the gay, betas and cuckolds.

 

I outright reject any political platform that seeks to disenfranchise me because of my race. Martin Luther King called for a color blind Nation and yet those on the left have sought the exact opposite path.

 

I myself have always been a registered independent and have never voted for a Democrat although I aligned loosely with social values. I have always been a budget and spending hawk for as long as I can remember and in this respect the line with the Republican side.

 

In the end the sad part of all this is not the final destruction of Donald j Trump nor the dissolution or defang-ing of DOGE. The sad part is the United States is absolutely bankrupt. Most if not all of the Nations around the world are interconnected with its financial network. If these issues are not addressed you will not see your pensions and the world may be very much headed towards Depression.

 

What all this is going on you have Israel during the part in Iran as it's done for decades. It medals in the internal affairs of the United States and buys congressman through AIPAC and other nefarious means.  A huge criticism I have over Trump is all of the pro-israel bull<deleted> that has surfaced very early on the administration. Is another constituency hears obviously very beholden to. I have little doubt that many Jewish leaders in the United States were in large part targeted by Epstein.

 

The truth about Trump will come out. I have no stones to cast.

 

I am not MAGA and never was but the idea of supporting the Democratic party and or Kamala Harris simply because she was in Trump is completely ill thought and an absolute disaster for the nation.

 

This is Us politics and I have absolutely zero interest in what anyone outside the nation has to say about the matter. All of the barbs and insults that are thrown around this forum daily are just an insult to my and anyone else that supports fiscal solvencies intelligence. Most if not all of you know absolutely nothing about economics to be frank. All the insults hurled at those that support the Trump agenda have always been extremely shallow and that is especially true from those non US citizens.

 

Edit: please excuse some nonsensical wording. This was written on my phone and some with speech to text

[KhunBENQ]

I gave this wonderful couple three months (from Jan 20). Now they beat me for more than a month 🤣

[Hawaiian]

18 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I predict this goon will only go after Musk on every level possible, he will try to cancel his government contracts, he will try to steal his money, you will try to cancel all the Tesla tax credits, and he will try to cripple the man for having the audacity to tell it like he sees it, and to speak the truth, something that you never, ever should do around Trump, as he abhors truth on every level possible. Truth has always been the enemy of the huckster and scam artist. 

 

Musk's money helped to get a lot of congress people and senators re-elected and if Trump wages this battle against him, there is no doubt he will withdraw his support from any upcoming campaigns, and one congress and Senatorial race after another will be lost, which of course will be a net gain for the American people. And just another loss for Trump.

 

Trump has overreached to a stunning degree, he completely overestimates America's relevance, and he is about to suffer some of the biggest and most humiliating losses of his life. He deserves that. 

It's only a matter of time before Trump's financial empire collapses and he suffers the humiliation he so deserves.  

[Hummin]

19 minutes ago, JaxxBKK said:

 

 

 

I truly do not believe maga fans understand either, they are just useful servants.

 

Oh yeah, we outside usa knows tea party very well. Enough documentation and documentaries about the fine establishment 

 

Mossad is an interesting conspiracy, even more than The Putin files might have on Trump.

 

A hooker peeing on Trump drugged up, is not muh compared to Mossad creating Epstein 

[HappyExpat57]

15 minutes ago, Hawaiian said:

It's only a matter of time before Trump's financial empire collapses and he suffers the humiliation he so deserves.  

No one hates that man more than I, so I hate to say but I think this will only be a blip on his financial radar. He is too diversified, has too many fingers in too many pies, has too many people who are terrified of crossing him. His financial crash has been predicted too many times to count. He's not known as teflon Don for no reason. 

[Hummin]

47 minutes ago, Denim said:

I was one of many who predicted  this.

 

Totally impossible for two people  with such inflated egos to get along with each other for any length of time.

 

Now they will both be hell bent on slinging as much mud at each other as possible.

And to be true, the democrats was the ones who made him in the first place, and he forgot that. 

 

He forgot who actually gave him chance to succeed, and maybe not so different with Trump. The circle is complete.

[JaxxBKK]

7 hours ago, Tug said:

trump’s festering

 

5 hours ago, theshu25 said:

Derogatory  nickname edited out

 

5 hours ago, Hawaiian said:

humiliation he so deserves.  

 

5 hours ago, blaze master said:

fascist nazi.

 

(Sarcasm)

 

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

goon

 

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

huckster and scam artist. 

 

5 hours ago, Hummin said:

dr Evil

 

 

Just emotion ...

[sharot724]

Just now, JaxxBKK said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trump or Elon???

[Hummin]

2 minutes ago, JaxxBKK said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just emotion ...

You have to admit, musk do have some characteristics and easy to ridicule especially the last 6 months, touching and tasting a little bit world power. 

[blaze master]

5 minutes ago, JaxxBKK said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just emotion ...

 

Why did you only take a snippet of my comment. It puts it out of context. 

[blaze master]

Just now, JaxxBKK said:

 

Yup.

 

You lefties can't really comprehend much of anything. It's this one day and that the next.

 

Like a child and the poor 😉 you quickly gravitate to immediate gratification and shiny objects

 

Im a leftie ? Oh man you really dont get it do you.

[BKKKevin]

"I know the best people"... 

[JaxxBKK]

1 minute ago, Hummin said:

You have to admit, musk do have some characteristics and easy to ridicule especially the last 6 months, touching and tasting a little bit world power. 

 

Agreed.

 

I think he's seen what's confronting the US correcting course and walked away. This does not bode well for US economy, world markets. Message: it can't be fixed. I'm done

[sharot724]

Just now, blaze master said:

 

Im a leftie ? Oh man you really dont get it do you.

maga attacking maga Can't get any better. Oh wait Trump Musk defacng each other same same

[JaxxBKK]

3 minutes ago, blaze master said:

 

Why did you only take a snippet of my comment. It puts it out of context. 

 

Ah, I see...it was sarcasm  /s