Build-up to a blow-up: Inside the Trump-Musk meltdown

Sydney Morning Herald

11 hours ago

This account of the crumbling ties between the president and Musk is based on interviews with 13 people with direct knowledge of the events, all of whom asked for anonymity to describe private discussions.
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While the relationship had been losing steam over the past several months as Musk clashed with Trump officials, people close to both men said the disagreement over Isaacman accelerated the breakup.
Musk had been planning to exit the White House relatively quietly – before Isaacman's ouster left him feeling humiliated.
Now the two men, who seemed inseparable at one point, are on opposite sides.
Musk suggested Trump should be impeached. Trump has threatened to cancel government contracts with Musk's companies. And in recent days, Trump has been telling people close to him that he believes Musk is acting 'crazy' and must be doing drugs.
For Musk, there were few positions across the thousands in the federal government that mattered more to him than the head of NASA, because of its critical importance to SpaceX, his rocket business. So it was of great personal benefit to Musk when Trump chose Isaacman – who has flown to space twice with SpaceX – to oversee the agency.
Isaacman's donations to Democrats had not always been a problem.
While Trump privately told advisers that he was surprised to learn of them, he and his team had been briefed about them during the presidential transition, before Isaacman's nomination, according to two people with knowledge of the events.
But by last Friday, when Trump went through the file containing details of the donations, he clearly had changed his mind.
Musk barely mounted a defence of his friend. He was anxious about doing so with other people around, including Sergio Gor, director of the presidential personnel office, who had clashed with Musk over other staffing matters. Musk believed that he would be able to talk to the president at some point after the gathering, privately.
But Musk never got a chance to make his case.
In the hours after the Oval Office farewell, Trump decided he would withdraw Isaacman from consideration. Musk was stunned by how fast it all happened.
Musk's allies have argued privately that Isaacman's recent donations to Democrats were not ideological and made at the encouragement of Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut. A spokesperson for the Democratic senator for Arizona declined to comment.
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As Musk dealt with the fallout from the tanked nomination, he spent part of the weekend outside Missoula, Montana, as a guest at 'Symposium' – an event for tech executives, investors and startup founders thrown by Founders Fund, the venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel.
He mingled with guests at Paws Up, a high-end resort with glamping tents and luxury cabins set on 15,000 hectares of a historic cattle ranch. There, he had a wide-ranging conversation with Thiel, who could sense no coming feud with the president, according to a person familiar with the talks.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI who has been openly feuding with Musk, also attended, though the two men did not speak.
For Musk, the goings-on in Washington were still top of mind.
After spending a day in Montana, he turned his attention in earnest to assailing the top domestic priority of Trump: the Republican bill making its way through Congress that would slash taxes and steer more money to the military and immigration enforcement.
Privately and publicly, Musk stewed over the bill, believing that its spending would erase the supposed savings of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and add to the federal deficit.
Some Republican lawmakers had tried to assuage Musk's fears. On Monday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson walked the billionaire through the bill and said that Congress would try to codify the work done by DOGE.
After the call, Johnson told associates that he felt Musk was uninformed about the legislation and the congressional process, but that he had been able reason with the world's richest man, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
On Monday evening, Musk still had concerns. He hinted at them on his social platform X, reposting a chart apparently showing the yearly increase in the national debt.
'Scary,' Musk wrote as a caption.
Trump did not respond to Musk's criticisms of the bill and maintained a light public schedule.
The Trump-Musk alliance fully ruptured Thursday, six days after the two men put on the collegial display in the Oval Office.
Musk, who had largely focused his attacks on Republicans in Congress, had started directing more ire at the president.
So when Trump was asked about Musk's comments during a meeting with Friedrich Merz, the new German chancellor, the president finally let loose. He said he was 'disappointed' in Musk, downplayed the billionaire's financial support for his presidential campaign and posited that Musk developed 'Trump derangement syndrome' after leaving the White House.
Musk fired back in real time. Using X, he unleashed a torrent of attacks. He claimed there were references to the president in government documents about Jeffrey Epstein, the sex offender, and indicated his support for the president's impeachment. He also said Trump's tariffs would cause a recession by the end of the year.
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Later, Trump, using his own social media platform, threatened to cut billions of dollars in federal contracts with Musk's companies.
By Thursday evening, Musk signalled he would be open to de-escalating the fight, while the president seemed to have little interest in an immediate reconciliation. White House officials said Trump had no plans to call Musk.
'President Trump is the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party, and the vast majority of the country approves of his job performance as president,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. 'Inflation is down, consumer confidence and wages are up, the jobs report beat expectations for the third month in a row, the border is secure and America is hotter than ever before.'
A spokesperson for Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
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Musk, his allies and even some White House officials now pin the blame on Gor, believing he sabotaged Isaacman as Musk was on his way out. But some close Trump allies say Gor was being unfairly criticised for a decision that ultimately rests with the president.
Gor and Musk had clashed several times early in Trump's second term, including at two Cabinet meetings, when Musk questioned how swiftly Gor was moving to fill the top ranks of agencies. Musk's and Gor's teams often disagreed over personnel and the amount of power that should be given to aides at DOGE.
But Gor's title – director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office – does not convey the scope of his influence in the president's orbit. Gor founded a pro-Trump super political action committee during the 2024 presidential election, and co-founded a publishing house with Donald Trump jr that has published books by the president and his allies.
The president's aides and allies quickly jumped to Gor's defence on Friday.
'Sergio Gor is a vital member of the team, and he has helped President Trump put together an administration that is second to none,' Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said in a statement. As for Musk?
White House officials said on Friday that Trump was considering selling the bright red Tesla he got in March as a show of support for Musk.