"Trump Tariffs Will Cause Recession This Year": Elon Musk's Nastiest Digs

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During a meeting, Trump addressed Musk's criticisms of his bill. Their feud escalated, impacting Tesla's stocks. Musk claimed Trump is linked to Epstein, while Trump accused Musk of self-interest. Musk warned tariffs could trigger a recession.
During his meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, US President Donald Trump was asked about his former close aide Elon Musk's criticism of his 'Big, Beautiful, Bill', to which he replied, 'He hasn't said anything about me that's bad,' Trump said. 'I'd rather have him criticize me than the bill.'
Moments later, the feud on social media between Musk and Trump had actually reached a personal level, digressing from a difference of opinion on the bill.
The fallout between the two has led to Tesla's stocks plunging over 14% on Thursday, wiping out nearly $150 billion in market value.
It started with Musk responding 'Yes' to an X user who called for the president's impeachment.
Musk Claims Trump Is In Epstein Files
However, things went downhill from there. Musk at one point was accusing the Trump administration of withholding information about Jeffrey Epstein, a financier and child sex offender, because it involves Trump too.
'Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,' Musk wrote on X. 'Have a nice day, DJT!' He also added, 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.'
In a statement to CNN, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt labelled this claim 'an unfortunate episode.' She said, 'This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted. The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.'
Although Musk's allegation was made without evidence, there is a concern about lack of transparency.
Musk Took Credit For Trump's Election Win
Then, Musk also took a shot at Trump's election win. Trump had claimed that he would have won Pennsylvania even without Musk, but the tech billionaire says that Trump only won because he spent hundreds of millions of dollars and campaigned for Trump.
'Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,' Musk said. He later added, 'Such ingratitude.'
Trump Said Musk Is Looking Out For His Own Interests
Attacking Musk, Trump said that his criticism of the Big Beautiful Bill was less about excessive spending and more about his own interests - his personal business - Tesla.
'Elon's upset because we took the [electric vehicle] mandate and – you know, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles,' Trump said in the Oval Office.
'He only developed a problem when he found out I would cut the EV mandate,' Trump added. He said Musk 'went CRAZY' about the EV changes.
Musk responded by saying that the bill can keep the EV cuts, but cut the spending. 'Whatever,' Musk said. 'Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.'
Trump Blamed Musk For Making A U-Turn
Trump also blamed Musk for knowing everything right from the start and still reacting to the bill after he left the White House.
'I'm very disappointed, because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people. He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem', Trump said in the Oval Office.
'But he knew every aspect of this bill. He knew it better than almost anybody, and he never had a problem until right after he left.'
Musk said that that was 'false' and wrote that 'this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!'
Trump Threatened To Cut Musk's Government Contracts
Continuing this very public feud, Trump notched it up a little higher and said that if lawmakers wanted to really save money, they should 'terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.'
Replying to this, Musk posted on X, "In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.'
NASA relies on the Dragon spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under a contract worth roughly $4.9 billion. The capsule is the only US spacecraft capable of flying humans in orbit.
Taking Dragon out of service would disrupt the ISS program, which involves dozens of countries under an international agreement signed over two decades ago. Russia's Soyuz system is the only other crewed spacecraft that sends astronauts to the ISS, Reuters reported.
However, hours after stating that the company would begin decommissioning amid his feud with Trump, he said that his rocket company SpaceX will not decommission its Dragon spacecraft.
Musk Attacked Trump's Tariffs
Musk also warned that Trump's tariffs will be a cause for concern as it could plunge the country into a recession by the second half of the year. 'The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year' he wrote on X.
Despite the ongoing attacks, Trump managed to steer the conversation back to the bill and 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', he added.