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DONALD TRUMP: He's the only reason we can now send American astronauts into space …
MARK STONE: We have all wondered when these two would fall out. But could anyone have predicted that when it happened, it would spiral so fast.
- Sky News UK, June 6 2025
Hullo, welcome to Media Watch I'm Linton Besser, and yes, millions around the world watched on slack-jawed as the world's most famous pal-athon came to its ugly end last week.
ALISON PIOTROWSKI: The bromance, it's well and truly over …
- Today, Nine Network, 6 June 2025
CONAN NOLAN: It appears the bromance is over …
- NBCLA , 4 June 2025
JOSH HAMMER: … Trump Musk bromance …
- The Rita Panahi Show, Sky News Australia, 5 June 2025
PRESENTER: … bromance …
- India Today, 6 June 2025
KRISTEN WELKER: This bromance …
- Today, NBC, 4 June 2025
CHRIS KENNY: The end of the bromance…
- The Kenny Report, 4 June 2025
The psychodrama playing out in real-time amid a fusillade on social media:
JOE ROGAN: Jesus Christ…
KASH PATEL: I'm just stayin' out of the Trump Elon thing …
JOE ROGAN: What the fuck are they doing?
- The Joe Rogan Experience, 5 June 2025
And providing a rich source of protein for headline writers everywhere:
I HATE MY X!
Big, beautiful breakup …
- New York Post, 6 June 2025
The spectacle of two clownish billionaires, one a president, the other a providore of rocket ships setting fire to bureaucracy resetting the world order and pretending their friendship was anything other than transactional?
I mean who could have predicted it was going to end like this?
Um, everyone.
KARA SWISHER: … there can be only one and that's gonna be Donald Trump.
- CNN, The Chris Wallace Show, 9 November 2025
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI: … Elon Musk is Donald Trump's peach right now and the peach is ripening. But you know what happens with fruit like this - it gets stale and mouldy very quickly.
- The Rest is Politics US, 1 March 2025
Elon did indeed quickly moulder, busy as he was riding roughshod over Republican grandees and riding high …
ELON MUSK: This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy …
- Associated Press, 21 February 2025
On his own supply:
… he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder …
- The New York Times, 30 May 2025
Musk denied this report and when the White House announced the departure of the Department of Government Efficiency architect, Trump handed his chum the booby prize, a golden key.
But Elon Musk previously charged with putting a scythe through government spending began firing shells at Donald Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill which will increase America's debt ceiling by up to 5 trillion US-dollars and at his signature tariffs policy.
On Thursday U.S.-time Trump finally erupted:
Elon was 'wearing thin' … I took away his EV Mandate … and he just went CRAZY! …
- Truth Social, @realDonaldTrump, 5 June 2025
The easiest way to save money in our Budget … is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts …
- Truth Social, @realDonaldTrump, 5 June 2025
Which amounts to $5.5 billion a year.
But the bloke has 100 times that under his mattress which might be why Elon Musk was very relaxed about hitting back chastising Donald for his lack of manners:
Without me, Trump would have lost the election …
- X, @elonmusk, 5 June 2025
Such ingratitude
- X, @elonmusk, 5 June 2025
And tossing in this little grenade for good measure:
… realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.
Have a nice day, DJT!
- X, @elonmusk, 5 June 2025
Have a nice day?
Musk later rethought this sweet but uncorroborated claim and deleted the tweet.
Perhaps most stark about this wee spat was the speed at which we knew what was going on.
While the skirmishes that occur inside other governments might only be brought to light by diligent correspondents these blows were being traded on public platforms the combatants both happen to own raising questions about whether these really are social networks or:
… when it comes to their mega-rich, mega-wealthy owners … simply megaphones to holler at the world.
- Business Insider, 6 June 2025
And at such volume that other consequential world events are for many completely drowned out like the issuing of sanctions by the White House against four judges of the International Criminal Court, a barrage of deadly Russian strikes on Ukraine and China's sale of propellant to Iran for ballistic missiles.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are not just financially wealthy or politically powerful in the internet age they are also influence-rich beyond the wildest dreams of former tycoons and presidents with a direct line to hundreds of millions of people consuming news in snack-size portions.
So simply by firing from the hip they can drive the public conversation in any direction they choose sharpening ever more the crisis of relevance engulfing much of the press.
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