Tesla UK sales down 45% in new blow for Elon Musk
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Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Dramatic move by Pentagon hint Trump could be siding with another billionaire amid Musk fallout
The Pentagon appears to be contemplating pivoting away from Elon Musk 's SpaceX following the almighty blowup between President Donald Trump and the world's richest man earlier this week. The fallout appears to be impacting the nation's space program as the Trump administration looks toward another billionaire to replace Musk in the race to Mars. Officials at NASA and the Pentagon quietly reached out to SpaceX's competitors, urging them to accelerate development of alternative rockets and spacecraft. Decisions appear to have been taken quickly after Musk made a defiant threat to pull SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, a lifeline to the International Space Station, after Trump first threatened to cancel SpaceX's lucrative government contracts. 'It turned really terrifying,' one NASA official admitted to the Washington Post after initially finding the feud 'entertaining.' Although Musk eventually walked back his threat, the damage was done. Officials from NASA and the Pentagon, already uneasy with their reliance on SpaceX, were rattled to the core. SpaceX has become indispensable as it transports astronauts and cargo to the ISS, launches sensitive military satellites, and operates Starlink, the world's largest satellite constellation. The flare-up served to remind officials of the risks of tying national interests to a mercurial billionaire. 'When you realize that he's willing to shut everything down just on an impulse … that kind of behavior and the dependence on him is dangerous,' a former space agency official said. NASA insiders said Musk's threat 'crossed a line,' invoking memories of the 2018 episode when Musk smoked marijuana during a podcast interview, which prompted NASA to launch a safety investigation into SpaceX. The clash was also inflamed by the White House's decision to abruptly withdraw Jared Isaacman's nomination as NASA Administrator. Isaacman, closely aligned with Musk, had twice flown to space aboard SpaceX vehicles. In the aftermath, government officials reached out to Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, RocketLab, and Stoke Space, querying when their rockets might be ready to shoulder critical missions. Fatih Ozmen, CEO of Sierra Space, which is developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane, confirmed that NASA was 'working closely' with his company stating, 'NASA mentioned to us that they want diversity and do not want to rely on a single provider.' For some insiders, it wasn't hard to connect the dots: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, has long been a rival to Musk. Now, with the Biden-era antagonism between Trump and Bezos thawing, some see a political recalibration. Bezos' Blue Origin has lagged behind SpaceX for years, but its New Glenn rocket is finally gaining traction, albeit slowly. The Pentagon's recent 'lanes' strategy to diversify launch providers now looks prescient, with officials seeking to avoid 'overreliance on any single provider or solution.' A source familiar with the Defense Department's strategy said the White House sees an opening to back Bezos as a counterweight to Musk's volatility. 'They want someone who's predictable,' the person said to The Post. Even Congress appeared to be spooked by the behavior. A key committee demanded updates on Boeing's long-delayed Starliner capsule, which has struggled to match the reliability of Musk's Dragon. NASA, under pressure, said Friday that Starliner's next mission could come 'early 2026,' though it remains unclear whether it will fly astronauts or cargo only. Indeed, just how reliant NASA were on SpaceX was illustrated last year when American astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left on the International Space Station by Boeing's troubled Starliner capsule. Wilmore and Williams had set off for an eight-day Starliner test flight that swelled into a nine-month stay in space Boeing, which has taken $2 billion in charges on its Starliner development, faces a looming decision by NASA to refly the spacecraft uncrewed before it carries humans again. Boeing spent $410 million to fly a similar uncrewed mission in 2022 after a 2019 testing failure. Reflying Starliner uncrewed 'seems like the logical thing to do,' Williams said, drawing comparisons with Elon Musk's SpaceX and Russian capsules that flew uncrewed missions before putting humans aboard. She and NASA are pushing for that outcome, Williams added. 'I think that's the correct path,' said Williams, who is 'hoping Boeing and NASA will decide on that same course of action' soon. Results from Starliner testing planned throughout the summer are expected to determine whether the spacecraft can fly humans on its next flight, NASA officials have said. Todd Harrison, a defense analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, likened Musk's social media post to 'an embargo of the space station.' 'Musk was saying he is going to cut NASA off from its own laboratory in space,' he added. Harrison also recalled Musk's refusal to activate Starlink Internet for a Ukrainian military strike in 2022, a decision that raised alarms about national defense being at the mercy of a single CEO. 'The nation's missile defenses could be held hostage to the twittering whims of Elon Musk,' Harrison warned. Former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, who worked at SpaceX, voiced the fears of many in the astronaut corps: 'When your hopes and dreams are tied up in this, you can't help but think, "Oh my goodness, am I going to fly in space?"' Meanwhile, Trump, who once championed Musk as a visionary, appears to be cooling. His allies note that the president has no tolerance for perceived disloyalty and Musk's defiance has not gone unnoticed. Some aides believe Trump's sharp pivot is personal as much as political. RocketLab's CEO Peter Beck had previously warned how Musk's acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X, and his flirtation with politics could backfire. 'It certainly makes people uncomfortable. At the end of the day, if you're delivering important national security missions, the buck stops with the CEO,' Beck said. Pentagon officials remain wary, not least because few companies have rockets certified for critical national security missions. Blue Origin's New Glenn has flown once, and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan only twice. RocketLab's Neutron has yet to launch at all. SpaceX's Falcon 9 still dominates, launching with near clockwork precision. But now, Trump's administration appears ready to gamble on fostering competition, even if it means leaning more heavily on Bezos. 'Sierra Space stands ready,' Ozmen declared. Others in the sector are similarly jockeying for position, sensing that Musk's once-unshakable grip may be loosening.
The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
Donald Trump slams ‘big-time drug addict' Elon Musk as toxic feud intensifies
DONALD Trump called Elon Musk a 'big-time drug addict' as his spat with the world's richest man intensified. The US President is said to have blasted his billionaire ex-backer as reliant on ketamine in phone calls. 2 It came after the Tesla billionaire linked Mr Trump to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Their feud went public on Thursday night as both men used their own social media platforms — X and Truth Social — to insult each other. Mr Musk, 53, turned on the US leader, calling his Congressional spending bill a 'disgusting abomination' on Wednesday. The President, 78, has called it his 'big, beautiful bill', but Mr Musk believes it will increase national debt by an unsustainable amount. It triggered the ugly public bust-up, with Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and accusing him of being a close associate of Epstein. Yesterday, Mr Musk deleted the post, which was seen hundreds of millions of times. The Washington Post reported Mr Trump used private calls to urge his allies not to pour fuel on the fire and told Vice President JD Vance to be cautious. But the President, whose campaign took £250million from Mr Musk, is also said to have become weary with the tycoon's alleged drug use. He called Mr Musk an 'addict' in the calls and claimed he 'lost his mind' after leaving the administration. The businessman previously admitted using ketamine, but it is alleged he became so hooked last year it affected his kidneys. Trump insists Elon Musk is lashing out at 'big beautiful bill' for personal reason as he admits he's 'disappointed' in Tesla boss Mr Musk officially left the government last week but said he would remain as a 'friend and adviser' to Mr Trump. The President last night said he had 'no intention' of speaking to Mr Musk, adding: 'I think it's a very bad thing because he's very disrespectful'.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Trump warns of 'consequences' for Elon after he 'disrespected the office of president'
President Donald Trump warned that Elon Musk would face 'very serious consequences' if he was to start bankrolling Democratic candidates. Their relationship disintegrated earlier this week as the former allies battled it out on social media after disagreeing on Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill.' Speaking with NBC News' Kristen Welker on Saturday, Trump was asked what he would do if Musk crossed the political aisle and donated to Democrats. 'If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that. He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that', he told out the outlet. Musk, who is worth $330 billion, was a major contributor to Trump's presidential campaign - spending at least $250 million in supporting his race for the White House last year. Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is over, Trump responded: 'I would assume so, yeah.' 'I'm too busy doing other things. I won an election in a landslide. I gave him a lot of breaks, long before this happened,' he said. 'I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him', Trump added. Musk already said that he would be cutting back on spending on political campaigns ahead of next year's midterm elections. The president also accused Musk of being 'disrespectful to the office of the president.' 'I think it's a very bad thing, because he's very disrespectful,' Trump said. 'You could not disrespect the office of the president.' During their spat, Musk even suggested in a since-deleted post that Trump had been named in the government files involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Responding to that remark, Trump said: 'That's called "old news," that's been old news, that has been talked about for years. 'Even Epstein's lawyer said I had nothing to do with it. It's old news.' The two dialed back their barbs at each other by Friday night, with both saying that they wished each other well. But by that point, the damage to their relationship looked to be done. Following the outbreak of their feud, Trump and his allies have said Musk turned on the bill because it cuts subsidies for electric vehicles. Musk has said he doesn't need them anyway. The bill is estimated to add another $3.8 trillion to the national debt, which currently stands at a whopping $36 trillion. Musk went public with his criticism in a series of posts on X, arguing that the spending would wipe out the efforts of his DOGE team. Then, on Thursday, when Trump was supposed to be hosting the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, he was asked about Musk's recent criticism. From there the dam broke. 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will any more, I was surprised,' Trump told reporters. The president suggested that Musk was angry - not over the bill ballooning the deficit - but because the Trump administration has pulled back on electric vehicle mandates, which negatively impacted Tesla, and replaced a Musk-approved nominee to lead NASA, which could hinder SpaceX's government contracts. 'And you know, Elon's upset because we took the EV mandate, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles, and they're having a hard time the electric vehicles and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy,' Trump said. 'I know that disturbed him.' Over the weekend, Trump pulled the nomination of Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman worked alongside Musk at SpaceX. Reports have since emerged that the nomination of Isaacman being rescinded was in part because of the interference of Sergio Gor, the director of the Presidential Personnel Office. The New York Times had first reported that both Musk and some of those inside the White House had pinned the blame for the dust-up on Gor. Musk and Gor have had a sour relationship for months, stemming from what Axios described as Gor's 'resentment' of Musk's involvement in personnel issues. The Washington Post also reported that Gor had made it clear that he would find a way to get back at Musk, which turned out to be Isaacman's nomination. Trump had said he rescinded the nomination due to donations he had made to the Democrats over the years. Vice President JD Vance said in an interview tried to downplay the feud. He said Musk was making a 'huge mistake' going after Trump, but called him an 'emotional guy' getting frustrated. 'I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that´s not possible now because he´s gone so nuclear,' Vance said. Vance said that Musk´s DOGE, which sought to cut government spending and laid off thousands of workers, was 'really good.' He had made the comments as he spoke with comedian Theo Von, which was taped on Thursday as Musk's posts were unfurling on X. Von showed the veep Musk´s claim that Trump´s administration hasn´t released all the records related to Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them. Vance responded to that, saying, 'Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn´t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.' 'This stuff is just not helpful,' Vance said in response to another post shared by Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance. 'It´s totally insane. The president is doing a good job.' Vance also defended the bill that has drawn Musk's ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Trump's first term.
