The feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk escalated Thursday, with Musk accusing Trump of having ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and criticizing Trump's "big, beautiful" spending bill. Musk alleged that Trump is in the Epstein files, which is why they have not been made public, and suggested that Trump would not have won the election without him.
The White House's Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, calls Musk’s claim “an unfortunate episode” driven by his dissatisfaction with the bill’s lack of EV subsidies. A source notes Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago and references the February 2025 release of flight logs mentioning Trump.
The conflict began when Musk criticized the "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill, calling it an "abomination" and urging to keep electric vehicle (EV) and solar incentives while removing wasteful spending Trump responded by expressing disappointment in Musk, stating that he was "surprised" by Musk's criticism.
During a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Thursday, Trump addressed Musk’s criticism publicly, saying he’s “very disappointed” in Musk, who “knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody.” Trump claims Musk’s objections stem from the removal of the $7,500 EV tax credit, which he says Musk knew about for months. He suggests Musk may have “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Trump also mocked Musk’s appearance, referencing a recent black eye (attributed to Musk’s son) and questioning why he didn’t cover it with makeup.
In a social media post, Trump threatened to cancel Musk’s government contracts, including those for SpaceX and Tesla, stating, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.” He also claimed he asked Musk to leave DOGE because he was “wearing thin.”
Escalating the feud Musk responded by saying SpaceX would begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft, indicating a potential withdrawal from government contracts.
Musk then took to X to make his accusations about the Epstein files. He wrote, "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."
The White House and Trump's supporters defended Trump, with the White House press secretary describing Musk's comments as "unfortunate" and suggesting that Musk was unhappy with the bill's content. Trump also suggested that Musk was upset about the removal of EV subsidies and mandates, which could affect Musk's Tesla business.
Despite the heated exchanges, Trump downplayed the situation to reporters and instead referenced his policy implementations, saying, "Oh it's okay, it's going very well, never done better."
Throughout the day, Musk's net worth dropped significantly, losing approximately $27 billion, although he remained the world's richest man with a net worth of around $388 billion.
Speaking to reporters by phone Friday, Trump said in response to reports of possible phone call with Musk, "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem. The poor guy’s got a problem....No. I won't be speaking to him for a while I guess, but I wish him well."
“Honestly I’ve been so busy working on China… working on Russia… working on Iran.. I’m not thinking about Elon musk .. I just wish him well....,“ Trump later told reporters. "I hope he does well with Tesla."
