Trump and Musk feud draws reactions from billionaires, politicians and pundits. Here's who said what
Donald Trump and Elon Musk seemed inseparable not so long ago: attending events together, doing joint interviews and showering praises on each other. All that changed overnight.
Trump and Musk traded barbs in a rather public feud, with the U.S. president threatening to pull back billions of dollars in government contracts for Musk's companies, while the Tesla CEO suggested Trump could not have won the election without him.
The hostilities began when Trump lashed out at Musk's criticism of the Republican tax-cut and spending bill, and quickly escalated into an all-out online brawl on Trump's Truth Social and Musk's X, with prominent businessmen, analysts and political names weighing in on the fight.
Billionaire Bill Ackman on Thursday urged Trump and Musk to stop fighting. The two men should "make peace for the benefit of our country," Ackman said on X.
The founder and chief executive of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, who had endorsed Trump a few months before the November election, said "We are much stronger together than apart," with Musk replying: "You're not wrong."
U.S. Congressman Jim Jordan told Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Thursday that he hoped Elon Musk and Trump would reconcile, while defending the budget bill.
Others in Trump's orbit, such as former senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who has clashed with Musk in recent months, were less conciliatory.
Bannon said on his "War Room Live" show Thursday that Trump should sign an executive order to take control of SpaceX, through a national security mobilization law called the Defense Production Act.
"The U.S. government should seize it," Bannon said, adding that the administration should strip Musk of his security clearance and suspend all federal contracts to Musk's companies, pending an investigation into them.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban seemingly endorsed a proposal from Musk, who had polled followers on whether to "create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle."
Former Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang reposted Cuban, later pitching an "Independent '28 presidential primary" with participants including Mark Cuban, Jamie Dimon, and actor Matthew McConaughey .
Eurasia Group's Ian Bremmer stated in a post on X that "Trump is more powerful than elon, but far less competent."
Wall Street traders dumped Tesla shares, sending them plummeting over 14%.
Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush said in a research note that the conflict was "jaw dropping and a shock to the market," creating major fear for Tesla investors.
"Tesla's stock is under major pressure down 15% as investors fear that this Musk/Trump battle will stop their friendship and change the regulatory environment for Tesla on the autonomous front over the coming years under the Trump Administration," Ives said.
However, Ives added that the spat had not changed Wedbush's bullish view on Tesla, though it "clearly does put a fly in the ointment of the Trump regulatory framework going forward."
Another Tesla-bull, Ross Gerber, head of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, had harsh words for Musk in a series of X posts, stating that Elon was "now attacking all the people he helped put in power."
"Elon going postal on Trump and tesla stock is getting walloped. Trump will be returning his new tesla and is saying he got musked. All this can't be good for shareholders. But hey, who cares about us," he said in a post.
Gary Black, Future Fund's Managing Director, who recently said on X that this firm had sold all its Tesla shares, argued that Trump and Elon's feud would put further pressure on the stock, taking aim at Tesla bulls.
"These same bulls argued for months that the Musk-Trump alliance would streamline the federal process allowing TSLA to secure general unsupervised autonomy license nationally. That prospect is now highly unlikely," he said in an X post.
David Rosenberg, president and founder of Rosenberg Research believes Musk's SpaceX provides a huge lead in for America's dominance in space technology and the ongoing feud could erode its support.
"There's a small group of Republicans that are unsure about that for various reasons, and many of them have cited Elon Musk's opposition to that [spending] bill as a reason that they will not vote for it. So the politics of what Musk is doing may actually be the most significant part of that," Rosenberg told CNBC's Squawk Box.
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