Trump vs Musk feud erupts with Epstein bomb and SpaceX threat
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's months-long alliance imploded on Thursday. Once close allies are now locked in a heated public feud. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has announced the retirement of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, hours after Trump threatened to cancel government contracts tied to Musk's companies.The rift erupted over Musk's criticism of Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill." It quickly escalated into a political standoff, with both men trading sharp jabs and accusations. Musk accused President Donald Trump of being named in the sealed Jeffrey Epstein files -- claiming that's the "real reason" they've never been fully released.advertisementThe trouble between the two built up over the week. On Tuesday, Musk began denouncing Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill. The president held his tongue while Musk, his former adviser, campaigned to torpedo the bill, saying it would add too much to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt.HERE'S HOW MUSK VS TRUMP MELTDOWN UNFOLDED
During a press briefing with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump said, 'I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot.' He suggested Musk was upset because the EV tax incentive was removed from the bill and questioned whether their friendship would continue.
advertisement
Calling out the legislative process behind Trump's bill, Musk tweeted: 'False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!'
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' adding, 'I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!'
Following Trump's threat to revoke federal support, Musk announced the shutdown of a major space program. 'In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately," he posted.
Elon also accused President Donald Trump of being named in the sealed Jeffrey Epstein files. "Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public."
Elon Musk backed a user's call for Trump's impeachment on X. In response to a post saying, 'President vs. Elon. Who wins? My money's on Elon. . . Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him,' Musk simply replied: 'Yes.'
Trump hinted that Musk's vocal opposition to his bill -- referred to by the administration as the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' -- stems from the removal of the electric vehicle incentive. Trump added that Musk 'knew the inner workings of the bill,' despite Musk denying having seen it.
advertisementMusk hit back at Trump's comments, saying, 'Without me,' Trump would have lost the election. He claimed Democrats would control the House and Republicans would only have a slim Senate majority, accusing Trump of 'such ingratitude.'
Elon Musk warned on X that Trump's tariffs could trigger a recession in the second half of the year.
Trump defended his proposed legislation. On Truth social, he wrote: "I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It's a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn't pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn't create this mess, I'm just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
advertisement
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Deccan Herald
28 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
Stampede politics, surrender barb, and a billionaire break-up!
Hello Readers! The week that went by was a tumultuous one in political circles. A victory parade turned into tragedy with political mudslinging taking precedence thereafter, a 'surrender-' barb opened up a Pandora's box while a Bharat Mata picture in Kerala's Raj Bhavan ruffled a few feathers. The week also saw the break-up of two-most influential personalities in the world of business and trade. Here's a quick recap of the week's action in DH Political Theatre.. Stampede did not take much time for ecstasy to turn into agony as Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) triumph and the resultant celebrations turned haywire last week with 11 lives lost due to a stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. But what followed after the stampede was sheer innuendo and political mudslinging which would put everyone into shame. While BJP, which is the principal opposition party in Karnataka, flayed the ruling Congress for giving the nod to victory celebrations at such a short notice despite being warned against the same by the police, the ruling party allowed the situation to go from bad to worse by suspending top police BJP flayed the Congress for turning the event into a virtual 'photoshoot' with most of their barbs aimed at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar. Videos and photos showing family members of Congress leaders posing with RCB cricketers on the grand steps of the Vidhana Soudha added more fuel to the fire. Regional imbalance questions also popped up as to whether the government would have accorded a similar reception to a Ranji-Trophy-winning state team instead of arranging a grand welcome with pomp and splendor for a city-based franchise club , that too in front of the Vidhana Soudha. Though the government did do some knee-jerk action by ordering a CID probe and detaining four people, including RCB's marketing manager, the damage is beyond control. The suspension of top police officials including the city pole commissioner who netizens claim have been made a scapegoat, has drawn flak from many circles. As cricket fans became cannon fodder, questions like what was the need to organise an event at such a short notice despite police warning and measures about better crowd-control management will remain open to debate for far across the Vindhyas, a political slugfest broke out between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress after Rahul Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'surrendered' following a call from US President Donald Trump during the India-Pakistan military conflict."A call came from Trump and Narendra ji immediately surrendered - history is a witness, this is the character of BJP-RSS, they always bow down," Rahul posted on taking potshots at the PM, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha also recalled the bravery of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1971 when she held her fort despite the US sending its Seventh Fleet. The Raebareli MP also went on say that India, under Indira Gandhi's astute leadership, held on its conviction and did not yield to US pressure at that was quick to pounce upon the 'surrender barb' and flayed Rahul saying his comments were an insult to the armed forces. While alleging that Rahul's comments undermined the success of Operation Sindoor, it also said that it makes one suspect if he is a "paid agent" of China and Pakistan. The saffron party also went on to add that it was the Nehru-Gandhi family which surrendered Indian interests. Governor vs since Arif Mohammed Khan was shunted out of Kerala Raj Bhavan, the equation between the state government and the governor had been reasonably good. But it looks as though the face off between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government and the Governor is set to resume. In a latest twist, a political row erupted after Kerala's agriculture minister P Prasad boycotted a sapling plantation function at the governor's house on World Environment Day, apparently for using a photo of Bharat Mata carrying a saffron flag. The minister's contention was that gubernatorial offices should not be used as a platform to promote religious causes, in an apparent reference to the portrait, which is mostly used in RSS 'shakhas'.Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar refused to budge though and defending it by saying that the picture of Bharat Mata could not be removed as 'we can't not do away with the ideals for which we're living'. Though the function was moved out from the central hall of Raj Bhavan to the Durbar Hall inside the state secretariat, the damage had been done by that time as the LDF government stuck to its stand of boycotting the function unless the portrait was removed. The latest row happened close on the heels of another controversy over a programme of RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy on 'Operation Sindoor' being held at the Raj Bhavan, with both Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition parties chiding Arlekar for what they called attempts to 'saffronise' the Raj Bhavan. It looks as though there is no end in sight to the Governor vs Govt face off in the left-ruled Kerala. Out of context!.'Misinterpreted', 'taken out of context' --- these are certain euphemisms that politicians usually use when they are in trouble after making controversial comments. It looks as though Tamil film icon Kamal Haasan, who nurtures political ambitions, is the latest to follow the trend. The 'Ulaganayagan' is in the eye of a storm following his comments that Kannada was born out of Tamil during an event to promote his film Thug Life, which he made in the presence of Kannada star Shiva Rajkumar. He faced heavy backlash from all quarters, with even Karnataka High Court pulling up the 70-year-old and asking him to apologise. But Kamal remained defiant and said that though there was no dispute or debate over the rich legacy of Kannada language, he would not apologise as demanded by Kannada outfits. But to calm down the issue, Haasan came up with a 'classic' justification, saying that his comments on Tamil and Kannada while talking about his association with thespian Dr Rajkumar's family have been 'misunderstood' and 'taken out of context.''It pains me that my statement at the Thug Life audio launch spoken out of gent affection for the legendary Dr Rajkumar's family, especially Shiva Rajkumar been misunderstood and taken out of context. My words were intended only convey that we are all one and from the same family and not to diminish Kannada any way,' Kamal said, in a belated attempt to douse the fire. After all, actors too can turn into good politicians, right?Billionaire break-up!.Across the globe, the week ended on high drama with dirty linen being washed in public by US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The public feud between the two most influential figures in the United States reached a crescendo, with Trump suggesting that he may terminate US government contracts and subsidies given to Musk's companies after the latter blasted Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' as fiscally reckless and a "disgusting abomination."When Trump met privately with White House officials, there was little to suggest that the US president was close to a public spat with Musk, the billionaire businessman who helped him win a second term in office. But things took a diabolic twist as Trump called Musk volatile and the latter retaliated through a barrage of posts on his own social media platform 'X'.As the public feud between the two billionaires escalates over the tax and spending bill, the Musk-Trump break-up also sent Tesla's stock price plunging while keyboard warriors went berserk with a wave of memes and viral one-liners across the world of concludes the (political) entertainment for this week folks! We will be back next week with more. Till then, stay tuned to Stage Left,DH Newsletters Team
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
32 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Kilmar Abrego Garcia charged with illegally transporting migrants
By Chris Strohm, Myles Miller and Bob Van Voris Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly deported by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador, has been brought back to the US to face federal charges that he illegally transported undocumented immigrants within the country. Abrego Garcia was indicted by a grand jury in Tennessee in May, according to court filings. He appeared in a Tennessee courtroom Friday, hours after he was returned to the US, ABC reported. Attorney General Pam Bondi said an investigation determined that he was member of the criminal gang MS-13 and a 'danger to our community.' Abrego Garcia's case became a lightning rod over President Donald Trump's immigration policies, which have seen the administration move to ramp up deportations of undocumented migrants. The Supreme Court had told the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. 'Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant and they agreed to return him to our country,' Bondi said at a press conference in Washington. 'Upon completion of sentence we anticipate he will be returned to his home country of El Salvador.' The US is seeking to have Abrego Garcia detained as a flight risk and a danger. The charges could result in him spending the rest of his life behind bars, prosecutors said. 'Today's action proves what we've known all along — that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so,' Andrew Rossman, a lawyer for Abrego Garcia, said in an emailed statement. 'It's now up to our judicial system to see that Mr. Abrego Garcia receives the due process that the constitution guarantees to all persons.' According to court documents, Abrego Garcia's role, with other unidentified people, was to pick up migrants in the Houston area after they'd illegally crossed the border into Texas, then move them to other parts of the country. Abrego Garcia and other members of the group also allegedly transported guns and drugs illegally purchased in Texas into Maryland. Before he was removed from the country, an immigration judge had ruled that Abrego Garcia could not be sent to his home country of El Salvador, finding that he would be at risk of harm under the Convention Against Torture. The government later admitted he'd been deported to El Salvador in error. After he was removed from the country in March, his lawyers asked a federal court in Maryland to order his return to the US. Abrego Garica was initially kept in El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, but was later moved to another facility. On April 10, the US Supreme Court agreed with US District Judge Paula Xinis that Abrego Garcia shouldn't have been deported and ordered the Trump administration to 'facilitate' his release from Salvadoran custody. Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele initially responded by claiming they had no power to return Abrego Garcia. Xinis then ordered the government to answer questions detailing its efforts to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. A US appeals court upheld the order in a harshly critical opinion on April 17. 'Thanks to the bright light that has been shined on Abrego Garcia, this investigation continued,' Bondi said Friday. Chris Van Hollen, the Maryland Democratic senator who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, said that the administration will now 'have to make its case in the court of law.' 'For months the Trump administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution,' Van Hollen said. 'Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States.'
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
38 minutes ago
- First Post
'That's way out of my lane': FBI chief Kash Patel steers clear of Trump-Musk feud, Epstein files
Patel said that he didn't know how Musk would know about the details of the Epstein files and clarified that he won't participate in the conversation read more Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel has refused to wade into the public spat between US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, saying he won't participate in this conversation. Patel was speaking at the 'Joe Rogan Experience" podcast on Thursday (June 5) when he learnt about Musk's allegations regarding Trump's involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein files. 'I'm not participating in any of that conversation between Elon and Trump," said Patel. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Rogan: Jesus Christ. That's a crazy thing to say. How does he know that Donald Trump is in the Epstein files? Does he have access? Patel: I'm not participating in any of that conversation. That's way out of my lane. Kash clearly uncomfortable. — Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) June 6, 2025 Musk's 'big bomb' Elon Musk on Thursday dropped what he said 'a big bomb ' on X when he claimed Trump was sitting over Epstein files and not releasing them because his name is mentioned in them. 'Time to drop the really big bomb: Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT." In another post on X, Musk stated, 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out." Soon after Musk's claim, Democrats too demanded the list be released. House Democrats reportedly pressed the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate Musk's. Joe Rogan's reaction to Musk's remarks Podcaster Joe Rogan said it was 'crazy' for Musk to say such a thing on X. 'That's a crazy thing to say. How does he know? Does he know that Donald Trump is in the Epstein files? Or does he have access to the Epstein files?" Meanwhile, Patel added that he didn't know how Musk would know about the details of the Epstein files. 'I'm just staying out of the Trump-Elon thing; that's way outside my lane. I know my lane, and that ain't it," Patel said. Ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, Trump declared he wouldn't have any problem releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files. However, the US president has not fulfilled this promise yet. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In February 2025, the Justice Department, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, released approximately 200 pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, including flight logs, a redacted contact book, and an evidence list from investigations into his crimes. These documents, described as 'Phase 1,' largely contained previously leaked material, such as pilot logs from Ghislaine Maxwell's trial and Epstein's 'black book,' but offered no major new revelations. Bondi later claimed that the FBI's New York Field Office was withholding thousands of additional pages related to Epstein's investigation and indictment.
