WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump on Thursday broke his silence on Elon Musk following the former White House adviser’s harsh criticism of Trump’s signature legislation on Capitol Hill. And things got ugly fast.
Within hours, the two onetime allies were trading insults on social media, with Trump eventually threatening to cancel government contracts for Musk’s various companies.
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Musk responded immediately: “Such an obvious lie. So sad.” A few minutes later, he said Trump’s name is in the FBI files related to serial sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“That is the real reason they have not been made public,” Musk wrote.
Musk went on to suggest Trump should be impeached, while Trump’s allies called for Musk to be deported.
HuffPost is committed to fearlessly covering the Trump administration. Click here to support our mission and become a member today.
Many people in Washington had predicted that the Trump-Musk bromance wouldn’t end well, and yet their feud is still a shocking breach after a year in which Musk donated millions to Trump’s campaign and became a senior adviser in the White House.
In remarks earlier on Thursday, Trump said he was surprised by Musk’s criticism of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill and that Musk knew how the bill phases out green energy tax credits that benefit his company.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said.
“He hasn’t said bad about me personally, but I’m sure that’ll be next. But I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
The legislation combines more than $4 trillion in tax cuts and new spending with less than $2 trillion in cuts to federal food and health programs, for a net deficit of more than $2 trillion. Musk has called the bill a “disgusting abomination” and said Congress should kill it because of its deficit impact.
Trump noted that Musk had not criticized him personally.
“I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill because the bill is incredible,” Trump said. “It’s the biggest cut in the history of our country.”
The president had notably avoided commenting on Musk since Tuesday, when Musk first laid into the legislation. Thursday’s remarks came during the president’s first public event with reporters this week, a meeting with the chancellor of Germany in the Oval Office. Trump said Musk disliked how the bill phases out green energy tax credits that benefit his electric car company, Tesla.
“Elon’s upset because we took the EV mandate and, you know, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles,” Trump said. “And you know, they’re having a hard time, the electric vehicles, and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy.”
Musk immediately responded in a series of posts on his social media website.
“Whatever. Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,” Musk wrote. He also denied Trump’s claim that he knew what was in the bill before it passed the House. Senate Republicans are modifying the bill, and a final version needs to clear both chambers before it can become law.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans have said this week they didn’t think Musk’s opposition would hurt the bill’s chances. They also disagreed that Musk is motivated by how the legislation would affect his companies.
“It’s total BS,” Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) told HuffPost on Wednesday. “I think he sacrificed a tremendous amount because he has a political compass, and to suggest that he’s acting in self-interest at this point in time is really just Washington swamp talk.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), when asked about the fight between Trump and Musk, said, “I have a rule, I never get between a dog and a fire hydrant.” He did not provide any specifics on who the dog is and who the hydrant is.
Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), chair of the House DOGE caucus, essentially a cheerleading section for Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, seemed upset by the breakup.
“It hurts,” Bean said. “It hurts when two friends are fighting. And I hate to see it.”
Illustration: Kelly Caminero/HuffPost; Photo: AP/Getty Images
In his remarks Thursday, Trump also suggested Musk was upset the White House rejected his preferred candidate to run NASA. He then commented on the bruise on Musk’s face when he appeared with Trump in the Oval Office for a farewell meeting just last week.
“I said, ‘Do you want a little makeup? We’ll get you a little makeup.’ But he said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ Which is interesting, and very nice. He wants to be who he is.”
Trump did say he thought Musk did a good job in his role as chief of DOGE, a job Musk left just last week.
“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.”
Following Trump’s remarks, Musk, who spent more than $200 million on Trump’s campaign, began to offer more direct personal criticism.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote. “Such ingratitude.”
Trump responded on his own social media platform: “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he’d been unable to reach Musk by phone.
“I’ve tried very hard to speak with Elon over and over, you know, and talk with him about what I believe are misconceptions he has about this bill and what it is,” Johnson told reporters.
Igor Bobic contributed reporting.