Trump and Musk's spectacular split minute-by-minute: How president and First Buddy's friendship unraveled online

Independent

12 hours ago

Just last week, President Donald Trump was handing his friend and close aide Elon Musk a golden key to the White House, praising the work the tech billionaire had done for the administration.
'Elon gave an incredible service. There's nobody like him,' Trump said in a joint press conference with Musk last week.
That press conference was to mark the end of Musk' s time as a special government advisor, leading the Department of Government Efficiency.
Although there had been some disagreements during Musk's 130 days in the role - the Tesla owner made it clear he was not a fan of Trump's tariffs - it seemed to mark a conciliatory end to their working relationship.
But there were rumblings: Musk, whose whole purpose at Doge had been cutting federal government spending, was deeply opposed to Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill.'
And while White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt had been able to play that difference of opinion off as healthy debate for a while, everything came to a head on Thursday.
Here's a timeline of how the very public fight between Trump and Musk unfolded.
Trump vs Musk: Minute by minute
1:31 p.m. Washington time, Tuesday, June 3: Musk attacks the Big Beautiful Bill
Writing on X, Musk says: 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.'
He continued: 'He added: 'It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America (sic) citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.'
Two days later, things escalated dramatically.
In an Oval Office appearance, Trump said he was 'very disappointed' by Musk's comments.
'Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here,' Trump told reporters. 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore.'
Trump added he 'would have won Pennsylvania easily anyway,' without Musk's help.
1.44-1.57 p.m. June 5: Musk renames bill, asks his followers if it was time to create a new political party
Musk posts a slew of tweets to X, including one asking, 'Where is this guy today??' in response to a tweet of screenshots from Trump's previous criticisms of increasing the debt ceiling.
He then tweeted: 'The Big Ugly Bill will INCREASE the deficit to $2.5 trillion!'
This is shortly followed by a new suggestion from Musk: 'Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?'
This post is still pinned to the top of the X owner's timeline.
2.16 p.m. June 5: Musk says he will be around for longer than Trump
Responding to Maga blogger Laura Loomer on X, who was commenting about the divide amongst Republicans over the fight between Musk and Trump, the billionaire said: 'Oh and some food for thought as they ponder this question: Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years...'
2.37 p.m. June 5: Trump attacks from Truth Social
The president says that Musk was 'wearing thin' in a series of posts on his social media platform:
'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!' Trump said.
He then added: 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!'
2.48 p.m. June 5: Musk hits back
Retweeting a screenshot of Trump's EV madate comment, Musk said: 'Such an obvious lie. So sad.'
3.10 p.m. June 5: Musk alleges Trump appears in the Epstein files
Musk tweeted: 'Files linked to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have emerged as a point of fixation for Trump and his allies and right-wing media figures.
Time to drop the really big bomb:@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.'
Shortly after, he wrote: 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.'
4.09 p.m. June 5: Musk says he will decommission spacecraft
'In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,' he tweeted.
Another X user replied, urging Musk to 'cool off and take a step back for a couple of days.' Musk replied: 'Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon.'
4.06 p.m. June 5: Trump defends the bill
Trump wrote on Truth Social: '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!'
4.11 p.m. June 5: Musk seems to agree Trump should be replaced by vice president J.D. Vance
Musk retweets an X user, who said: 'President vs Elon. Who wins? My money's on Elon. Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him.'
4.26 p.m. June 5: Musk brings tariffs into the fight
Musk tweets: 'The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year'.
7.50 p.m. June 5: Musk says 'Kill the bill'
Musk tweets: 'Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL'
Last post for June 5: Impeachment for Trump?
Musk's last repost for the day is from an X user, who said: 'This is why Republicans will likely lose the House in 2026 and then Democrats will spend two years investigating and impeaching President Trump.
:Trump and the Republicans in Congress need to deliver. We want budget cuts. We want agencies shut down. We don't want big govt.'