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Trump-Musk relationship implodes with insults and threats
Trump-Musk Tensions Reach Breaking PointBBC News
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Summary
- Tensions between US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk seem to have reached breaking point - and their friendship appears over
- For weeks, Musk had been complaining about Trump's signature piece of legislation - a spending bill - and has now been lobbying actively against it
- On Thursday, Trump met with the German chancellor in the Oval Office and spoke candidly about his disappointment with Musk
- In response, Musk launched a series of extraordinary attacks on X, including suggesting without evidence that Trump appears in unreleased files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
- Trump shot back several times, saying on Truth Social that Musk "went CRAZY" and was asked to leave the administration. He also threatened to cut government contracts with Musk's companies
- Amid the fighting, Telsa's stock price dropped a significant 14%, lowering Musk's EV company below the $1 trillion threshold.
- The public feud comes after Musk last week officially left his government post, where he was tasked with rooting out excessive spending through Doge

00:52
Media caption,
Trump: 'I'm very disappointed in Elon'
Live Reporting
Edited by Caitlin Wilson and Tinshui YeungFBI has 'no comment' on Musk's 'Epstein files' allegation
Earlier today, we reached out to the FBI for a comment on Musk's allegation that Trump appears in unreleased files held by the government related to late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.For context, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the US's national investigative agency, which has handled information related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
"The FBI does not have a comment on the matter," it replied.
Just last week, tech billionaire Elon Musk got a warm send-off from US President Donald Trump as he stepped down from his role as a special employee for the US government.
But today, after the president said he was "disappointed" and "surprised" by Musk’s criticism of his tax and spending bill, Musk didn’t let it slide.
He took to X, calling the bill a “big, ugly spending bill,” and started a poll asking if it’s time to create a new political party “that actually represents the 80% in the middle.”
He’s pinned the poll to the top of his X account. At the time of writing, over 2.1 million have voted, with 81.9% saying “Yes”.
Trump responded, threatening to cancel Musk’s government contracts, saying Elon Musk “went CRAZY”.
Since then, Musk’s said Trump’s tariffs will cause a recession, and escalated things with an unverified claim about Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump’s latest: “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago.”
Stay with us as this online feud, which could spill into real life, rumbles on.