logo
A complete guide to the Trump vs. Musk feud

A complete guide to the Trump vs. Musk feud

Yahoo13 hours ago

In early June 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk's once-close relationship turned ugly as the two traded barbs on social media. Social media users, in turn, speculated about why the two were fighting.
The relationship between Musk and Trump, according to reporting from reputable news outlets, had been complicated for months, despite public amicability. Trump's team had become increasingly frustrated with Musk's erratic behavior and his slash-and-burn mentality as the public face of the Department of Government Efficiency, according to these reports.
Things appeared to begin falling apart publicly when Trump pulled the nomination of a Musk ally to lead NASA, citing past donations to Democrats, and Musk started attacking Trump's trade adviser and tariffs architect, Peter Navarro.
On June 3, Musk posted on X that he "just can't stand it anymore," and attacked Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling it a "disgusting abomination" and criticizing it for increasing the national debt. Trump, in response, said he was "very disappointed" with Musk and alleged the world's richest man was really angry about the bill's electric-vehicle tax-credit cuts, which would hurt Musk's car company, Tesla.
It's true that the bill would increase the national debt, and that Trump reversed his position on increasing the debt ceiling — the limit lawmakers set to how much money the government can borrow. It's also true that the bill would cut tax credits benefiting Tesla. Thus, it is likely that even if there is more going on than what is publicly known, the fight does, at least in part, have to do with Trump's budget bill.
U.S. President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, a former special government employee and Trump adviser, once presented themselves as the ultimate bromance in U.S. politics — but as their relationship crashed and burned in mid-2025, speculation and questions about what caused their very public breakup circulated online.
"Who else still doesn't understand why Elon Musk and Donald Trump are fighting?" wrote one confused X user.
The fight between Musk and Trump appeared to center around Musk's criticism of Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, which Musk called a "disgusting abomination." Trump, on the other hand, lamented that he once "had" a great relationship with Musk and claimed Musk's anger was over cuts to electric-vehicle tax credits in the bill — credits that would have benefited Musk's car company, Tesla.
"I'll tell you, he's not the first," Trump said (at 1:13). "People leave my administration and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly. And some of them embrace it and some of them actually become hostile. I don't know what it is, it's sort of 'Trump derangement syndrome' I guess they call it."
Still, news outlets and late-night hosts speculated about the "real reasons" Musk was feuding with Trump. Some X users alleged Musk had simply pretended to support Trump to receive the EV subsidies. Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists argued that the fight was planned as a distraction or so Musk could sell cars to liberals and Trump could stop appearing beholden to the world's richest man.
Much of what we know about Trump and Musk's relationship comes from reporting based on anonymous sources inside the White House who fear losing their jobs, making it impossible to definitively determine based on public information if there was a "real" reason for the spat. In response to an inquiry, the White House ignored detailed questions asking for evidence of various claims and allegations made by Trump and Musk, instead providing a boilerplate statement that had been sent to Snopes previously.
"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," read the statement from Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.
Below, we break down what has been reported, what Trump and Musk have said and what they appear to be fighting about:
Musk and Trump's close relationship publicly began when the SpaceX founder endorsed Trump for president on July 13, 2024, in an X post following an assassination attempt on the president in Pennsylvania. Musk poured nearly $300 million into Trump's campaign, and shortly after Trump won, he appointed Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency, a new initiative dedicated to cutting government spending.
As Musk used a literal chain saw to promote his cuts to government agencies, outwardly, the two could not have been more agreeable to each other. However, reputable news outlets — citing anonymous sources in the White House — painted a more complicated story. In March, The New York Times reported cabinet officials were growing increasingly frustrated with the billionaire's "unchecked power," culminating in an explosive meeting over Musk's efforts to slash spending via mass layoffs of federal workers.
The meeting, the Times reported, "yielded the first significant indication that Mr. Trump is willing to put some limits on Mr. Musk," as Trump reportedly said that from that point on, "the secretaries would be in charge; the Musk team would only advise."
In April, the The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump and Musk spent time together almost every weekend, and that Trump admired Musk's humor and wealth — and the interest other world leaders took in Musk. The story also noted Trump's attempts to smooth over Musk's tense relationship with his cabinet officials.
But the WSJ reported in May that the president and his staffers had expressed various frustrations over Musk's erratic messaging and his deep investment in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race. The candidate Musk backed, Brad Schimel, was a conservative backed by the Republican Party, but White House aides believed he would not win the race and it would become a referendum on Musk and Trump. (They were right.)
Axios reported in June that Musk wanted the Federal Aviation Administration to use his Starlink satellite system for national air traffic control — but "the administration balked at it because of the appearance of a conflict of interest and for technological reasons."
Snopes has not independently verified the reports from Axios, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
On April 5, news outlets reported that Musk posted, then deleted, an X post disparaging Trump's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro. "A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing," Musk said in reference to Navarro's degree, adding that Navarro "hadn't built s***." On April 8, Musk called Navarro a slur for developmentally disabled people, "truly a moron" and "dumber than a sack of bricks" in several X posts.
Musk's frustrations with Navarro appeared to be over Trump's tariff policy, which Navarro was largely in charge of. (Musk said in an X post on June 5 that he believed Trump's tariffs would cause a recession in "the second half this year.")
Musk then began publicly criticizing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in a May 27 interview with CBS News, saying he was "disappointed" to see that the "massive spending bill" would increase the budget deficit, adding that it "undermines the work DOGE has been doing" (see 6:00).
"I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both," he said.
The next day, Musk announced that his "scheduled time" as a special government employee was coming to an end. Trump presented Musk with a key to the White House on May 30 and called him an "incredible patriot" (see 11:40). Musk said he'd "expect to remain a friend and an adviser" and that he was "at the president's service" (see 20:13). Axios reported, however, that Musk had discussed trying to stay in that role beyond the 130-day time limit for special government employees but White House officials denied the request.
On June 1, Trump announced on Truth Social that he would withdraw a nomination of a Musk ally, Jared Isaacman, to head NASA after a "thorough review of prior associations." Based on other comments, Trump was likely referring to Isaacman's past donations to Democrats — but Axios reported that for Musk, the withdrawal was the "final straw."
"I'm not going to play dumb on this — I don't think timing was much of a coincidence. … There were other changes going on the same day," Isaacman said at the 50:04 mark in an "All-In Podcast" episode published June 4, presumably referencing Musk's departure.
On June 3, Musk posted that he "just can't stand it anymore."
"This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination," he wrote.
Over the next few days, Musk's X feed largely consisted of criticizing the budget bill. He repeatedly raised concerns over "debt slavery" — enslavement for unpaid debts — and the bill's potential effect on the national deficit. He began outright lobbying against the bill, calling on his followers to "kill the bill."
In a June 5 Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump said he was "very disappointed" to see Musk's tirade (see 4:09).
"I've always liked Elon, and so I was very surprised," Trump said. "He hasn't said anything about me that's bad. I'd rather have him criticize me than the bill, because the bill is incredible. It's the biggest cut in the history of this country."
Trump claimed Musk "knew the inner workings" of the bill better than many in the administration and "had no problem with it" until they cut the EV subsidies (see 21:07). (Musk said on X that the president's comments were false and the bill "was never shown to me even once.") The president also alleged that Musk was unhappy about the administration's decision to reverse Isaacman's nomination to lead NASA (see 15:03).
"He said the most beautiful things about me. And he hasn't said bad about me personally, but I'm sure that'll be next," Trump said (see 21:55). "But I'm very disappointed in Elon. I helped Elon a lot."
As Trump predicted, Musk turned to personal attacks: Musk claimed Trump wouldn't have won the election without him, amplified a call for Trump's impeachment and alleged the Trump administration hasn't released files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein because the president is in them.
Minutes before Musk posted about the Epstein files, Trump posted on his Truth Social account, "Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!"
Minutes after Musk posted his allegations that Trump was in unreleased Epstein-related files, Trump appeared to respond, without directly referencing Musk's claim. Trump's post read, "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. I didn't create this mess, I'm just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Trump also threatened to take away Musk's government contracts in a Truth Social post the same day: "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!"
Musk, in a now-deleted response, threatened to decommission the SpaceX capsule used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station — before backing off from the threat after an X user pleaded with him to cool off.
Let's discuss the actual policy the two men appear to be fighting about: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
First, a quick recap: Musk's criticisms of the bill, at least publicly, center on his belief it will increase the federal deficit. Trump says Musk is mad over the administration's decision to remove electric-vehicle tax credits — what the president called an "EV mandate" — from the bill.
While Musk initially supported eliminating the EV tax credit in 2023, he appears to have reversed his stance. The budget bill includes the elimination of a tax credit worth roughly as much as $7,500 for some Tesla models and other electric vehicles by Dec. 31, 2025, seven years ahead of schedule — see Section 112002 of the bill, "TERMINATION OF CLEAN VEHICLE CREDIT." JP Morgan estimated Tesla would lose $1.2 billion over the elimination, according to Bloomberg.
Thus, it is accurate to say Musk stands to lose money over the removal of the tax credit. But Musk, in response to Trump's comments in the Oval Office, claimed on X that he cared more about what he believed was wasteful spending in the bill.
"Whatever," he 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."
Musk's attacks centered on what he believed was Trump's about-face on raising the debt ceiling — a limit Congress sets as to how much money the government can borrow — as well as the fact the budget bill would increase the deficit. Part of Musk's tirade against Trump involved him pulling out old Trump posts about the deficit to paint the president as a hypocrite.
It is true that Trump was against raising the federal deficit before he became president — but he raised the ceiling multiple times during his first term. In a June 4 Truth Social post, he said he wanted to abolish the debt limit entirely "to prevent an Economic catastrophe."
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would increase the federal deficit by $2.4 trillion through 2034; that would grow to $3 trillion with interest, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget — and $5 trillion with interest if temporary tax cuts were made permanent. As Trump had touted, the package also cuts spending by about $1.3 trillion, with most of that coming from cuts to Medicaid and food assistance, according to the CBO.
The bill would thus necessitate raising the debt ceiling, as the ceiling as of 2025 is $36.1 trillion, which the United States has already breached — the national debt, as of this writing, was $36.2 trillion, forcing the United States to take what's called "extraordinary measures" to temporarily prevent a default on the debt. Defaulting, the Department of the Treasury said, would result in "catastrophic repercussions."
Private arguments and issues the Trump team had with Musk may have led to this very public fight, according to reputable news outlets. While the center of the fight appeared to be the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the two were already at odds over Trump pulling the nomination of a Musk ally to lead NASA and Musk's opposition to Trump's tariff policy and the architect behind it, to name a few incidents.
In early June, Musk began attacking the budget bill, leading Trump to say he was "very disappointed" in the tech billionaire before posting a few of his own responses on Truth Social. Aside from Musk attacking the bill as being bloated and financially irresponsible, Musk also attacked Trump's character. Trump alleged Musk was actually upset with the bill's electric-vehicle tax-credit cuts and said the easiest way to reduce spending would be to take Musk's government contracts away.
In terms of the policy discussion, it is true the bill increases spending and the national debt, as Musk claimed, and it is true ending the EV tax credit would likely harm Tesla. At the end of the day, we can't say exactly what is going on in either man's their head, making it impossible to know whether there's more to the fight — but the evidence suggests the budget bill is at least one major sticking point for the relationship.
Al Jazeera. "'I Love the President': Trump, Musk Heap on Praise in Gushy Interview." Al Jazeera, 19 Feb. 2025, www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/19/trump-musk-lavish-each-other-with-praise-as-they-defend-cost-cutting-drive. Accessed 6 June 2025.
"Alaska on X: "@Elonmusk @SpaceX This Is a Shame This Back and Forth. …." Archive.ph, 6 June 2025, archive.ph/Tc8NK. Accessed 6 June 2025.
All-In Podcast. "Jared Isaacman: What Went Wrong at NASA | the All-in Interview." YouTube, 4 June 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YdOjoaQTOQ. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Arrington, Jodey C. "Text - H.R.1 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): One Big Beautiful Bill Act." Congress.gov, www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Associated Press. "WATCH: Elon Musk Waves Chainsaw on Stage at CPAC." YouTube, 20 Feb. 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkMVb0RNptA. Accessed 6 June 2025.
"Breaking down the One Big Beautiful Bill | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget." Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, 21 May 2025, www.crfb.org/blogs/breaking-down-one-big-beautiful-bill. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Caputo, Marc. "Scoop: Four Reasons Musk Attacked Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill.'" Axios, 3 June 2025, www.axios.com/2025/06/03/elon-musk-trump-white-house-relationship. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Clough, Rick, and Kara Carlson. "Elon Musk Escalates Attacks on Trump Tax Bill, Sending Tesla (TSLA) Plunging." Archive.ph, Bloomberg, 5 June 2025, archive.ph/btB6l. Accessed 6 June 2025.
CNN. "Elon Musk Exits Government Role." Www.youtube.com, www.youtube.com/shorts/rdKOq3fUX9c. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Congressional Budget Office. "Debt-Service Effects Derived from H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act." Congressional Budget Office, 5 June 2025, www.cbo.gov/publication/61459. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Dawsey, Josh, et al. "Inside Elon Musk and Trump's Complicated and Tense Relationship." Archive.ph, The Wall Street Journal, 31 May 2025, archive.ph/hQtd6. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Inside Elon Musk's Shock-And-Awe Months in the White House." Archive.ph, The Wall Street Journal, 5 Apr. 2025, archive.ph/TZZLa#selection-2839.25-2839.159. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Deng, Grace. "What to Know about Trump, Musk and the Dismantling of USAID." Snopes, Snopes.com, 5 Feb. 2025, www.snopes.com/news/2025/02/05/trump-elon-musk-dismantling-usaid/. Accessed 6 June 2025.
"Donor Lookup." OpenSecrets, www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=jared+isaacman. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Face the Nation. "Trump and Musk Take Questions as Tesla CEO Exits 'Special Government Employee' Post." YouTube, 30 May 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFUp3Y9ZWWI. Accessed 6 June 2025.
"Federal Debt and the Debt Limit in 2025." Congress.gov, www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12045. Accessed 6 June 2025.
"Interactive: Recent History of the Debt Limit | Bipartisan Policy Center." Bipartisanpolicy.org, bipartisanpolicy.org/debt-limit-history/. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Izzo, Jack. "Yes, Musk Shared Post Calling for Trump's Impeachment." Snopes, Snopes.com, 5 June 2025, www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-trump-feud-impeachment/. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Liles, Jordan. "Yes, Musk Alleged Trump Appears in the Epstein Files." Snopes, Snopes.com, 5 June 2025, www.snopes.com/fact-check/elon-musk-epstein-trump/. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Loe, Megan. "Musk Said 'Trump Would Have Lost the Election' without Him." Snopes, Snopes.com, 5 June 2025, www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-trump-2024-election-results/. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Musk, Elon. "Elon Musk on X: "@Mrp @RealPNavarro @JoeSquawk @SquawkCNBC Navarro Is…." Archive.ph, 9 Apr. 2025, archive.ph/Rh7bJ. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "@Mrp @RealPNavarro @JoeSquawk @SquawkCNBC Tesla Has …." Archive.ph, 9 Apr. 2025, archive.ph/0Ox5B. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: '💯' / X." Archive.ph, X (formerly Twitter), 5 June 2025, archive.ph/LdWhO. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "a New Spending Bill Should Be Drafted That Doesn't M…." Archive.ph, 4 June 2025, archive.ph/RiBLH. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: 'America Is in the Fast Lane to Debt Slavery' / X." Archive.ph, 4 June 2025, archive.ph/tjovK. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "Call Your Senator, Call Your Congressman, Bankruptin…." Archive.ph, 5 June 2025, archive.ph/zumUO. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "False, This Bill Was Never Shown to Me Even Once And…." Archive.ph, 5 June 2025, archive.ph/8IG7O. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "in Light of the President's Statement about Cancella…." Archive.ph, 5 June 2025, archive.ph/sjGYO. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "Mammoth Spending Bills Are Bankrupting America! ENOU…." Archive.ph, 4 June 2025, archive.ph/wfzgT. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "the Trump Tariffs Will Cause a Recession in the Seco…." Archive.ph, 5 June 2025, archive.ph/CDy1o. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "This Immense Level of Overspending Will Drive Americ…." Archive.ph, 4 June 2025, archive.ph/juP1U. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "This Spending Bill Contains the Largest Increase In …." Archive.ph, 4 June 2025, archive.ph/hiKAc. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: "Whatever. Keep the EV/Solar Incentive Cuts in the Bi…." Archive.ph, 5 June 2025, archive.ph/wcCQY. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: 'Where Is This Guy Today??' / X." Archive.ph, 5 June 2025, archive.ph/Q9pOw. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Musk on X: 'Wise Words' / X." Archive.ph, 5 June 2025, archive.ph/GgTJT. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Good Advice. Ok, We Won't Decommission Dragon." Archive.ph, 6 June 2025, archive.ph/l8HvU. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "I Fully Endorse President Trump and Hope for His Rapid Recovery." X (Formerly Twitter), 13 July 2024, x.com/elonmusk/status/1812256998588662068. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "I'm Sorry, but I Just Can't Stand It Anymore. This Massive, Outrageous, Pork-Filled Congressional Spending Bill Is a Disgusting Abomination. Shame on Those Who Voted for It: You Know You Did Wrong. You Know It." X (Formerly Twitter), 3 June 2025, x.com/elonmusk/status/1929954109689606359. Accessed 6 June 2025.
PBS NewsHour. "WATCH: Trump Says He's 'Very Disappointed' in Elon Musk after Criticism of President's Budget Bill." YouTube, 5 June 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_21LILjHsY. Accessed 6 June 2025.
"Statement by President-Elect Donald J. Trump Announcing That Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Will Lead the Department of Government Efficiency ('DOGE') | the American Presidency Project." Ucsb.edu, 12 Nov. 2024, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-president-elect-donald-j-trump-announcing-that-elon-musk-and-vivek-ramaswamy. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Swan, Jonathan, and Maggie Haberman. "Rubio and Trump Officials Clash with Elon Musk in an Explosive Meeting." Archive.ph, The New York Times, 7 Mar. 2025, archive.ph/MDOht. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Taija PerryCook. "Every DOGE Rumor We've Fact-Checked so Far." Snopes, 15 Mar. 2025, www.snopes.com/collections/doge-rumors-collection/. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Talcott, Shelby. "'A Battle Elon Won't Win': Musk Takes on Trump Trade Guru Peter Navarro." Semafor.com, 6 Apr. 2025, www.semafor.com/article/04/05/2025/a-battle-elon-wont-win-elon-musk-takes-on-trumps-trade-guru-peter-navarro. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Thadani, Trisha, et al. "Elon Musk Donated $288 Million in 2024 Election, Final Tally Shows." Washington Post, The Washington Post, 31 Jan. 2025, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/31/elon-musk-trump-donor-2024-election/. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Trump, Donald J. "Donald J. Trump on X: "No Member of Congress Should Be Eligible for R…." Archive.ph, 31 July 2012, archive.ph/yP8pg. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "Elon Was 'Wearing Thin,' I Asked Him to Leave, I Took Away His EV Mandate That Forced Everyone to Buy Electric Cars That Nobody Else Wanted (That He Knew for Months I Was Going to Do!), and He Just Went CRAZY!" Truth Social, 5 June 2025, truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114632205177163456. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "I Am Very Pleased to Announce That, after All of These Years, I Agree with Senator Elizabeth Warren on SOMETHING. The Debt Limit Should Be Entirely Scrapped to Prevent an Economic Catastrophe. It Is Too Devastating to Be Put in the Hands of Political People That May Want to Use It despite the Horrendous Effect It Could Have on Our Country And, Indirectly, Even the World. As to Senator Warren's Second Statement on the $4 Trillion Dollars, I like That Also, but It Would Have to Be Done over a Period of Time, as Short as Possible. Let's Get Together, Republican and Democrat, and DO THIS!" Truth Social, 4 June 2025, truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114626260163622304. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "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. I Didn't Create This Mess, I'm Just Here to FIX IT. This Puts Our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Truth Social, 5 June 2025, truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114632555927229642. Accessed 6 June 2025.
---. "The Easiest Way to Save Money in Our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, Is to Terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I Was Always Surprised That Biden Didn't Do It!" Truth Social, 5 June 2025, truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114632206992330264. Accessed 6 June 2025.
"Truth Details | Truth Social." Archive.ph, 5 June 2025, archive.ph/RBlv2. Accessed 6 June 2025.
US Treasury. "What Is the National Debt?" Fiscaldata.treasury.gov, fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-debt/. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Wall, Mike. "Senator Grills Jared Isaacman, Trump's Pick for NASA Chief, about Elon Musk's Involvement in His Job Interview (Video)." Space, 10 Apr. 2025, www.space.com/space-exploration/watch-senator-grill-jared-isaacman-trumps-pick-for-nasa-chief-about-elon-musks-involvement-in-his-job-interview-video. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Wazer, Caroline. "Musk Said He's Leaving the White House. Here's What We Do (and Don't) Know about the Departure." Snopes, Snopes.com, 29 May 2025, www.snopes.com/news/2025/05/30/musk-leaving-white-house/. Accessed 6 June 2025.
White House. "President Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the Chancellor of Germany." Www.youtube.com, 5 June 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmD3sN-XWHU. Accessed 6 June 2025.
Yellen, Janet. DEPARTMENT of the TREASURY | Letter to Rep. Mike Johnson. 17 Jan. 2025, home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Debt-Limit-Letter-to-Congress-1-17-25.pdf. Accessed 6 June 2025.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Elon Musk Claims Trump's Name Is On The Epstein List, Taco Trump Threatens To End Phony Stark's Government Contracts
Elon Musk Claims Trump's Name Is On The Epstein List, Taco Trump Threatens To End Phony Stark's Government Contracts

Black America Web

time24 minutes ago

  • Black America Web

Elon Musk Claims Trump's Name Is On The Epstein List, Taco Trump Threatens To End Phony Stark's Government Contracts

Source: The Washington Post / Getty / Elon Musk / Donald Trump It should come as no surprise that the bromance between these two ego maniacs would have come to a fiery end. We knew this day would come, but no one had Musk and Trump beefing with each other so soon on their bingo cards. The alleged ketamine abuser couldn't keep his disdain for Trump's 'one big beautiful bill,' calling it a 'disgusting abomination.' 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore,' Musk began. 'This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.' Trump was uncharacteristically quiet following Musk's initial comments about his legislative centerpiece of his second presidency, the 'one big beautiful bill.' That all changed when Trump finally 'clapped back' at Musk while taking questions during his meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump said he was 'very surprised' and 'disappointed' by his former financier's comments about his stupid bill, claiming the Tesla chief saw the bill and understood its inner workings better than anybody, while suggesting that Musk was mad because of the removal of subsidies and mandates for electric vehicles. Elon Musk Had Time For Donald Trump Musk responded in real time via his 'former platform,' X, formerly Twitter, with a flurry of posts on X accusing Trump of 'ingratitude' and 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election,' while refuting the orange menace's claims. '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,' Musk wrote. Oh, and he wasn't done. Musk then hit the president with a low blow, writing, 'Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' Donald Trump Claps Back Trump finally fired back on his platform, Truth Social, by threatening to cut Musk's government contracts. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it.' Felon 47 wrote. Musk replied by threatening to decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which could be detrimental to the International Space Station and NASA, as it is described as 'the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth' and can seat seven passengers. Musk also agreed with a post stating that Trump should be impeached and replaced by JD Vance. Oh, this is getting spicy. While all of this was going on, CNN reports that Tesla stocks took a hit and Musk's net worth shrank. Per CNN : Tesla shares plummeted 15% this afternoon as Elon Musk's battle with President Donald Trump intensified. Trump threatened in a social media post to target Musk's business empire. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Tesla selloff has wiped off more than $150 billion off the market value of Telsa, which started the day worth nearly $1.1 trillion. It has also erased a chunk off the net worth of Musk, the world's richest person. Social media has pulled up all the seats, grabbed some popcorn and are currently watching Musk go at with Trump and his supporters, you can see those reactions in the gallery below. Elon Musk Claims Trump's Name Is On The Epstein List, Taco Trump Threatens To End Phony Stark's Government Contracts was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE

How a Supreme Court decision backing the NRA is thwarting Trump's retribution campaign
How a Supreme Court decision backing the NRA is thwarting Trump's retribution campaign

CNN

time24 minutes ago

  • CNN

How a Supreme Court decision backing the NRA is thwarting Trump's retribution campaign

As Harvard University, elite law firms and perceived political enemies of President Donald Trump fight back against his efforts to use government power to punish them, they're winning thanks in part to the National Rifle Association. Last May, the Supreme Court unanimously sided with the gun rights group in a First Amendment case concerning a New York official's alleged efforts to pressure insurance companies in the state to sever ties with the group following the deadly 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida. A government official, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the nine, 'cannot … use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression.' A year later, the court's decision in National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo has been cited repeatedly by federal judges in rulings striking down a series of executive orders that targeted law firms. Lawyers representing Harvard, faculty at Columbia University and others are also leaning on the decision in cases challenging Trump's attacks on them. 'Going into court with a decision that is freshly minted, that clearly reflects the unanimous views of the currently sitting Supreme Court justices, is a very powerful tool,' said Eugene Volokh, a conservative First Amendment expert who represented the NRA in the 2024 case. For free speech advocates, the application of the NRA decision in cases pushing back against Trump's retribution campaign is a welcome sign that lower courts are applying key First Amendment principles equally, particularly in politically fraught disputes. In the NRA case, the group claimed that Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, had threatened enforcement actions against the insurance firms if they failed to comply with her demands to help with the campaign against gun groups. The NRA's claims centered around a meeting Vullo had with an insurance market in 2018 in which the group says she offered to not prosecute other violations as long as the company helped with her campaign. 'The great hope of a principled application of the First Amendment is that it protects everybody,' said Alex Abdo, the litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute. 'Some people have criticized free speech advocates as being naive for hoping that'll be the case, but hopefully that's what we're seeing now,' he added. 'We're seeing courts apply that principle where the politics are very different than the NRA case.' The impact of Vullo can be seen most clearly in the cases challenging Trump's attempts to use executive power to exact revenge on law firms that have employed his perceived political enemies or represented clients who have challenged his initiatives. A central pillar of Trump's retribution crusade has been to pressure firms to bend to his political will, including through issuing executive orders targeting four major law firms: Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey. Among other things, the orders denied the firms' attorneys access to federal buildings, retaliated against their clients with government contracts and suspended security clearances for lawyers at the firms. (Other firms were hit with similar executive orders but they haven't taken Trump to court over them.) The organizations individually sued the administration over the orders and the three judges overseeing the Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block suits have all issued rulings permanently blocking enforcement of the edicts. (The Susman case is still pending.) Across more than 200-pages of writing, the judges – all sitting at the federal trial-level court in Washington, DC – cited Vullo 30 times to conclude that the orders were unconstitutional because they sought to punish the firms over their legal work. The judges all lifted Sotomayor's line about using 'the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression,' while also seizing on other language in her opinion to buttress their own decisions. Two of them – US district judges Beryl Howell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, and Richard Leon, who was named to the bench by former President George W. Bush – incorporated Sotomayor's statement that government discrimination based on a speaker's viewpoint 'is uniquely harmful to a free and democratic society.' The third judge, John Bates, said Vullo and an earlier Supreme Court case dealing with impermissible government coercion 'govern – and defeat' the administration's arguments in defense of a section of the Jenner & Block order that sought to end all contractual relationships that might have allowed taxpayer dollars to flow to the firm. 'Executive Order 14246 does precisely what the Supreme Court said just last year is forbidden: it engages in 'coercion against a third party to achieve the suppression of disfavored speech,'' wrote Bates, who was also appointed by Bush, in his May 23 ruling. For its part, the Justice Department has tried to draw a distinction between what the executive orders called for and the conduct rejected by the high court in Vullo. They told the three judges in written arguments that the orders at issue did not carry the 'force of the powers exhibited in Vullo' by the New York official. Will Creeley, the legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said the rulings underscore how 'Vullo has proved its utility almost immediately.' 'It is extremely useful to remind judges and government actors alike that just last year, the court warned against the kind of shakedowns and turns of the screw that we're now seeing from the administration,' he said. Justice Department lawyers have not yet appealed any of the three rulings issued last month. CNN has reached out to the department for comment. In separate cases brought in the DC courthouse and elsewhere, Trump's foes have leaned on Vullo as they've pressed judges to intervene in high-stakes disputes with the president. Among them is Mark Zaid, a prominent national security lawyer who has drawn Trump's ire for his representation of whistleblowers. Earlier this year, Trump yanked Zaid's security clearance, a decision, the attorney said in a lawsuit, that undermines his ability to 'zealously advocate on (his clients') behalf in the national security arena.' In court papers, Zaid's attorneys argued that the president's decision was a 'retaliatory directive,' invoking language from the Vullo decision to argue that the move violated his First Amendment rights. ''Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors,'' they wrote, quoting from the 2024 ruling. 'And yet that is exactly what Defendants do here.' Timothy Zick, a constitutional law professor at William & Mary Law School, said the executive orders targeting private entities or individuals 'have relied heavily on pressure, intimidation, and the threat of adverse action to punish or suppress speakers' views and discourage others from engaging with regulated targets.' 'The unanimous holding in Vullo is tailor-made for litigants seeking to push back against the administration's coercive strategy,' Zick added. That notion was not lost on lawyers representing Harvard and faculty at Columbia University in several cases challenging Trump's attacks on the elite schools, including one brought by Harvard challenging Trump's efforts to ban the school from hosting international students. A federal judge has so far halted those efforts. In a separate case brought by Harvard over the administration's decision to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding for the nation's oldest university, the school's attorneys on Monday told a judge that Trump's decision to target it because of 'alleged antisemitism and ideological bias at Harvard' clearly ran afoul of the high court's decision last year. 'Although any governmental retaliation based on protected speech is an affront to the First Amendment, the retaliation here was especially unconstitutional because it was based on Harvard's 'particular views' – the balance of speech on its campus and its refusal to accede to the Government's unlawful demands,' the attorneys wrote.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store