From ‘Mean Girl' Trump to Musk leading a Russian coup – internet's best reactions to the explosive Don v Elon clash
ELON Musk sent the internet into a crazy spiral on Thursday as he publicly lashed out at former friend Donald Trump on X.
The US president was quick to hit back at the Tesla boss with several bitter barbs of his own as their
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Elon Musk sent the internet into a crazy spiral on Thursday as he publicly lashed out at former friend Donald Trump on X
Credit: AFP
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Social media exploded as Trump and Musk publicly went at each other online
Credit: X
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Some described it as 'the MAGA powers exploding' in a clever call back to one of the most iconic wrestling feuds between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage
Credit: X
The internet had been eagerly watching the nuclear dispute as it unfolded after
Trump hit back on Truth Social saying Elon was "wearing thin" around the White House.
He later warned the US government could end all federal contracts with Musk's companies if the insults continued to fly.
Here are social media's best reactions to the intense clash between the two mega powers.
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Mean girl Trump
Famous 2004 film Mean Girls has managed to create a long lasting legacy online with the Trump/Musk feud now even being linked to the movie.
The picture shared online is taken from the perspective of Musk who is looking at the iconic "Burn Book" from the film.
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Trump's face has been added to the page in place of Mean Girl's villain Regina George
Credit: X
Trump's face has been added to the page in place of Mean Girl's villain Regina George.
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The text above the image is the exact same as in the movie which says: "This girl is the nastiest skank b***h I've ever met. Do NOT TRUST HER. She is a fugly s***!"
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Trump's Stalinist purge
One of the quickest memes to emerge from the explosive fallout was an expertly AI generated image of a steely-faced Trump dressed as Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin.
A smiley Musk was stood
next
to him.
But a second image posted alongside it showed Musk suddenly disappearing from the picture.
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The two-part joke was hinting at a possible
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A clever AI generated image portrayed Trump as Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin and Musk as one of his purged officials
Credit: X
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The real picture of Stalin which was edited with the faces of Musk and Trump
Credit: Alamy
The purge - also known as the Great Terror - is a damning historical period which saw Stalin axe dozens of his political allies in the Soviet Union.
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Any threat to Stalin's regime was made to go through
sham trials
which resulted in them being removed from any form of power.
The government claimed they were getting rid
of suspected party dissenters
.
The meme was posted shortly after Trump announced on Truth Social that he in fact asked Musk to leave his role within the US government.
The president said the SpaceX chief was "wearing thin" and "went crazy" during his final weeks close to the White House.
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Musk's Russian-style coup
Musk is a famously persuasive man with him even claiming on Thursday he is the main reason why America re-elected Trump.
This created a whole load of hilarious comments and tweets on X as some jokingly ordered Musk to launch a coup on Washington.
One of the viral posts featured an image of the billionaire in a khaki jacket pointing at the camera.
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One of the viral posts featured an image of the billionaire in a khaki jacket pointing at the camera
Credit: X
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The pose was an echo of Wagner leader Prigozhin when he launched a botched coup on Moscow
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Musk claimed on Thursday he is the main reason why America re-elected Trump
Credit: X
The pose and outfit had a striking similarity to Wagner group leader Prigozhin who launched a botched coup against Putin by marching on Moscow.
It was followed by the caption: "Reports that Muskovite forces led by Elon Musk are preparing to march on Washington."
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The term Muskovite has been used before by Russian state television.
In October 2023, they hailed the world's richest man after he posted a meme of himself ridiculing Ukraine for asking for US aid during the war.
In response, Kremlin TV presenter Olga Skabeyeva described the tech mogul as "Elon the Muscovite" on Russia-1.
Billionaire for billionaire
As Trump and Musk's relationship capitulated before the internet's eyes, many users jumped at the chance to speculate on a potential replacement to join Trump's inner circle.
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The leading candidate was Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The Zuck and Elon already share a number of similarities.
They both sit at the very top of the official world's rich list with Musk at number one and Zuckerberg sat just behind in second.
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Some speculated that Trump may simply replace Musk with Mark Zuckerberg
Credit: X
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Zuckerberg and Musk were joined by fellow billionaires Jeff Bezos and Sundar Pichai at Trump's inauguration ceremony
Credit: AP
And both men own major social media platforms.
Musk famously acquired Twitter and transformed it into X whereas Zuckerberg created Facebook, now Meta, in 2004.
Trump already has a growing relationship with Zuckerberg after Meta donated $1m (£786,000) to an inauguration fund for the president.
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The pair also shared dinner together at Mar-a-Lago in November.
But much like with Musk, the two have shared a
In 2017, Trump hit out at Facebook for being "anti-Trump" after the platform banned his account following the Capitol riots on January, 6, 2021.
Cybertruck conundrum
Two of the most liked memes circulating around the internet on Thursday featured Tesla Cybertrucks.
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The powerful beasts are the brainchild of Musk and his remarkable staff at Tesla factories across the US.
But for one unlucky motorist his Cybertruck may be forced to stay in the garage forever after the public spat.
An image shows a parked up Tesla with the American flag emblazoned on the side in truly patriotic fashion.
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Musk even joined Trump back on the stage where the president was shot
Credit: AFP
But superimposed over the top is the image of a defiant Trump just seconds after he was shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania last year.
The legendary photo shows the bleeding Republican with his fist raised high in the air as secret service agents crowd around him.
The moment is notable in regards to the Trump/Musk feud as the assassination attempt is believed to be one of the main reasons why Musk joined team Trump.
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The second Tesla related meme shows the burning wreckage of a Cybertruck sat next to Trump Hotel in Las Vegas
Credit: X
It has even been revealed that Trump is yet to remove the Cybertruck he was gifted by Musk from the White House parking garage.
The second Tesla related meme shows the burning wreckage of a Cybertruck sat next to Trump Hotel in
Las Vegas
.
The image is taken from the tragic New Year's Day incident when former soldier
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The X user suggests the flaming Cybertruck is comparable to how Musk has ignited a fiery feud with Trump.
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Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
The Irish Independent's View: As Trump and Musk scrap, US voters could be hit by the fallout
Sceptics had long believed this union was more probably made in the darkest reaches of the nether world and would be happy to see it returned to its hottest corner. By their logic, no single universe could possibly contain two such colossal egos. Perhaps it is a back-handed compliment to Mr Musk that the ending of his 'First Buddy' status was celebrated with equal glee by the MAGA faithful and Democratic die-hards alike. What is clear is that when the planet's richest man falls out with its most powerful, there will be consequences. If Mr Musk thought the hundreds of millions he had given the president would spare him from his master's whims, he could not have been more wrong. In Trumpworld there can be only one emperor. The South African-born billionaire may have been cast into the void, but as owner of X — and Tesla, Space-X, Starlink and more — he makes for a dangerous adversary. The fallout from putting his nose out of joint could literally have been out of this world. 'In light of the president's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,' Mr Musk said. Told that such a move would 'both end the International Space Station and simultaneously provide no way to safely de-orbit it', he rowed back. Mr Musk's conjuring up of the spectre of Jeffrey Epstein and the president's friendship with the convicted paedophile may yet be explosive Clearly, when two stars of the ultra-wealthy firmament collide, mere mortals need to be wary. The dispute could be destabilising, with far-reaching political and economic implications. Mr Musk's conjuring up of the spectre of Jeffrey Epstein and the president's friendship with the convicted paedophile may yet be explosive. US author Mark Twain understood the power of the press when he warned: 'Never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the barrel.' The advice is even more pertinent when it comes to tramping on the toes of a tech giant who also owns the planet's most influential media platform. Of course, the real concern is for the interests of voters who could be caught up in the havoc wreaked by such a titanic clash. ADVERTISEMENT The little guy rarely does well when the irresistible force meets the immoveable object; it did not take long for the mutual congratulations after the so-called 'Dogefather' stepped down to turn caustic. Mr Musk has told Republicans that Mr Trump will be gone in the next few years, while he will be strutting his stuff for the 'next 40'. The celebrity divorce has already reduced Mr Musk's estimated $388bn (€340bn) fortune by $36.6bn. It was his dismissal of Mr Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' as an 'abomination' that caused the lightning storm. With US national debt at $36.22tn, someone needed to say something. The two billionaires will recover from their respective sweet sorrows: the hope is that the parting will not prove too bitter for American taxpayers.
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Philip Bump: Elon Musk has already lost the war as Republicans rally behind Donald Trump
No one really knows where the billionaire and the president will go from here ©Washington Post There is only one person who is unquestionably able to both maintain a high level of public visibility and stay on president Donald Trump's good side. That person is Donald Trump. Everyone else who sidles up to him suffers from the deficit that they are not Trump himself. They therefore risk discovering that Trump has suddenly turned against them, bringing his fervent base of support – tens of millions of Americans strong – with him. Options from that point are limited: obsequious efforts at reintegration with the president or lining up for one of the modest but endless slots reserved in the public conversation for Trump's former allies.
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Letters: Elon Musk's break with Donald Trump may offer opportunities to Ireland and rest of the EU
This is no ordinary falling-out. For once, Mr Trump is confronting a rival with genuine leverage – technological, communicative, financial and, perhaps, psychological. The implications could extend far beyond American shores. If this rupture holds, I could see Mr Musk pivoting towards Brussels, offering the EU and countries like Ireland his full innovation portfolio – satellites, electric vehicles, AI – at preferential rates. He may well find European regulators less volatile than a president nursing a grudge. Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh Tesla boss made a mistake trusting president, but he will be formidable enemy Monica Hesse doesn't hold back on the character of billionaire Elon Musk ( 'Good riddance to Musk, who did not need to do any of this', Irish Independent, June 4). But that's what drives billionaires, that's how they get there. Sitting back is not within Musk's DNA. While it is hard to have any sympathy for a billionaire who gets fired, he was naive to trust Trump. Perhaps if nothing else, Musk will be a man scorned and a formidable enemy for President Trump. In that his destructive stint into politics may prove invaluable and electrifying to America and democracy at large. Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18 Billionaire's attack could turn Republicans against their leader and his bill For months, US president Donald Trump has been heralding his 'big, beautiful' spending bill as being a key piece of his agenda, containing tax cuts for the rich and benefits cuts for the vulnerable. We now know that this will also add trillions to America's debt, to the point that some are now sounding the alarm, warning of a 'debt bomb' about to hit the US economy. What the White House didn't bet on was that one of those leading critics would be Elon Musk, who has turned fire on his former boss in spectacular fashion, calling the legislation a 'disgusting abomination' and ominously warning US senators that voters will fire those politicians who 'betray America'. I am not an advocate of Musk but on this one , I believe that he's not wrong. It leaves me wondering: will the words of Musk spook Republicans into defying Donald Trump? I am also curious as to how the president will react to Musk's missives. John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Israel will stop at nothing in its war on Gaza, so it's time for Ireland cut all ties The US representative to the UN, Dorothy Camille Shea, repeated Washington's message as part of the veto of a resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, that Israel has the 'right to defend itself'. Unsurprisingly, there was no mention of the right to life for Palestinians. This was the latest example of the United States' unwavering support of Israel's annihilation of Gaza. Israel's UN representative, Danny Danon, eerily replied to the veto: 'Don't waste more of your time.' He added that no resolution, no vote, 'will stand in our way'. 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Readers may recall the story of the Jeanie Johnston, now parked on Dublin's Custom House Quay and which began its journey in Blennerville, just outside of Tralee. This replica 'famine ship' tells the unique story of Ireland's past and the thousands of Irish people who crossed the Atlantic to escape starvation and destitution. Not one soul was lost on the original ship, which crossed the ocean dozens of times. Former RTÉ journalist Fintan Drury, whose new, deeply researched book on what is happening in Gaza, Catastrophe, asks: 'Where is the outrage?' He convincingly argues that what is now being perpetrated on a defenceless people did not begin on October 7, 2023, but rather eight decades earlier ('Author hoping to convert Kerry readers not convinced of Palestinian cause at talk in Listowel', The Kerryman and Irish Independent, May 28) The Madleen ship may be turned away by Israel but world is watching as Netanyahu and co deliberately use starvation as a shocking and cowardly tactic in their latest attempt to suppress an indigenous race. Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry Income tax may be deeply unfair, but its burden should fall evenly on us all The news that so many workers are exempt from income tax in one way or another presents a real moral dilemma (Irish Independent, June 5). On the one hand, income tax is a 200-year-old hangover from the Napoleonic wars; an immoral way for the State to monetise our waking hours that has no place in a free and democratic society in which the particularly altruistic can donate what they please to the Exchequer. As such, bully for those who don't have to pay it, whatever the reason. On the other hand, if the blight of income tax is to exist, it should be applied evenly, if for no other reason than to reduce the burden it places on those of us who do have to pay it. In that sense, the workers who don't pay should have to, with a view to reducing what is due from the rest of us. Killian Foley-Walsh, Kilkenny city
