Elon Musk backed Donald Trump seconds after an assassination attempt. Now their relationship has turned ugly

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

On July 13, 2024, the world's richest man took to the social media platform he had bought himself and made a dramatic declaration.
Seconds earlier, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump had been the victim of an attempted assassination.
As Mr Trump — bleeding from the ear and raising a fist in the air — was rushed offstage by Secret Service agents, Tesla CEO Elon Musk officially endorsed him for president.
"I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," he wrote on X.
The statement marked a controversial new era for both men.
That age would come to an end just 10 months later — with Mr Musk, sporting a black baseball cap and a black eye to match, announcing his departure from the White House.
This week, their partnership took its ugliest turn.
This is far from the first time the two men have crossed paths or butted heads.
During the 2016 election campaign, Mr Musk said in an interview he thought Mr Trump "was not the right guy".
"He just doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States," the South African-born tech chief told CNBC.
At the time he said Mr Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, had the "right" economic policies.
But just a month later — following Mr Trump's shock win on election night — he would accept a position on a federal advisory council alongside other Silicon Valley elites.
More than 580 tech industry employees had already signed an open letter condemning the Trump administration's planned policies to collect data on minority groups.
Mr Musk was not among them.
He stepped down from his position on the president's advisory councils less than six months after being appointed.
Mr Trump had just announced the US would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement — a move he would repeat during his second term.
He told followers on X — which he had yet to purchase at the time — he had done "all I can to advise directly to POTUS" and other White House officials.
The decision, Mr Musk said, left him "no choice" but to walk away.
By the end of Mr Trump's first term, he had again set his sights on rekindling the relationship with Mr Musk.
The president marvelled at his SpaceX rockets in an 2020 interview with CNBC.
"He likes rockets," Mr Trump told the outlet.
"And he does good at rockets, too, by the way.
"I never saw where the engines come down with no wings, no anything, and they're landing. I said, 'I've never seen that before.'"
He dubbed Mr Musk one of the "great geniuses" of the modern age, "one of our very smart people".
Two years later the relationship had soured again.
Mr Musk, according to the then-presidential candidate, was "another bulls*** artist".
Mr Trump, according to the Tesla CEO, needed to "hang up his hat and sail into the sunset".
After ultimately being forced to follow through on his plan to buy Twitter — now X — Mr Musk reversed a ban on Mr Trump's account.
As the campaign trail heated up, however, Mr Musk announced he would not be donating to any presidential candidate, and would not endorse the Republican or Democratic parties.
The Pennsylvania assassination attempt appeared to change his mind.
According to the Washington Post, Mr Musk would in just months become the biggest individual political donor of the 2024 election.
Mr Musk made his first public appearance alongside the presidential candidate in August, jumping up on down on stage.
"I'm not just MAGA," he told the crowd, referencing his black "Make America Great Again" cap.
The number of public appearances and statements supporting the Trump campaign would only increase in the weeks leading up to election day.
Mr Musk's America PAC launched a giveaway, giving away $US1 million ($1.54 million) a day to voters in swing states.
The contest continued despite a legal challenge arguing it violated election laws.
On election night, Mr Musk joined Mr Trump and other elite members of the campaign at the Mar-a-Lago resort.
"Game, set and match," he wrote on X.
Shortly after the sweeping win, Mr Trump announced a controversial new position for Mr Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
The two tech industry leaders were set to run "DOGE", the Department of Government Efficiency, with the name being a reference to one of Mr Musk's favourite online memes.
"Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies," Mr Trump said.
"Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of DOGE for a very long time.
"Importantly, we will drive out the massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual $6.5 trillion dollars of government spending."
Mr Ramaswamy would walk away from the project within weeks.
His departure left the president's new "first buddy" undeterred.
Mr Trump did not always appear comfortable with the public scrutiny regarding their close relationship.
Just a month before his second inauguration, Mr Trump referenced growing complaints about Mr Musk's role at a public appearance in Arizona.
"No, he's not taking the presidency," he said in December.
"No, no, that's not happening."
Meanwhile reports by White House insiders and former campaigners swirled that the then president-elect had become "annoyed" with Mr Musk.
The tech CEO had sparked a "civil war" between himself and high-profile MAGA allies over H1B visas, which are short-term visas given out to foreign workers, often by tech companies, for specialised US jobs.
A controversial gesture made on stage at a post-inauguration event by Mr Musk also stole headlines internationally.
His son, then-three-year-old X, appeared to shush the president in the Oval Office, seeming to tell him to "shush your mouth" in video taken by media.
Mr Musk took to the stage again at a conservative conference wielding a bedazzled "chainsaw for democracy".
The Trump administration was forced to argue in court that Mr Musk was not the "head" of DOGE, and US political media outlets reported on numerous behind-the-scenes clashes with White House officials.
Mr Musk was simultaneously facing turmoil outside the White House — by March Tesla shares had lost more than 50 per cent of their market value.
The company had hit its longest streak of losses since its debut on 2010, with the sharp decline linked to the Trump administration's rapidly changing tariff plans.
In an apparent attempt to throw a lifeline to his "best buddy", Mr Trump turned the White House's South Lawn into a temporary Tesla showroom.
He personally inspected five vehicles in front of media, declaring them "beautiful".
"The one I like is that one, and I want the same colour," he said, pointing to a red car.
Mr Trump declared on his Truth Social platform he would buy Tesla.
Days later during a Fox News interview, Mr Musk became emotional when asked about the performance of his companies.
Asked how he managed multiple businesses and his government role, he said: "With great difficulty."
At the same time, DOGE was facing widespread criticism for a lack of transparency and failure to reach its stated savings goals.
The advisory body has defunded multiple programs and made mass lay-offs, citing "fraud and abuse" and "woke" policies since it was first formed.
By the end of May, Mr Musk would make a subdued departure.
On May 30, Mr Musk arrived for a news conference at the Oval Office, sporting a black eye and a black DOGE cap.
He told media the injury had occurred while playing rough with his youngest child.
Arms crossed and head-down, he announced his time in the White House was over and accepted a golden key to the White House from the president.
"Elon's really not leaving," Mr Trump said.
The relationship between both men appeared to have fizzled out into quiet indifference — for a few days.
Mr Musk then criticised Mr Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill", a sweeping budget reconciliation bill to fast-track spending policy.
The more than 1,000-page document, which he labelled "pork-filled" and "outrageous", would scrap electric vehicle subsidies among other changes.
On Thursday night, local time, the fallout intensified on each of their social media platforms.
On X, Mr Musk appeared to take credit for the election outcome.
"Without me, Trump would have lost the election," he said.
Mr Trump then declared on Truth Social he had asked Mr Musk to leave the White House.
"Elon was 'wearing thin'," he said.
"I asked him to leave, I took away his [electric vehicle] 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!
"The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon's government subsidies and contracts.
"I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!"
Mr Musk labelled the accusations he went "crazy" as an "obvious lie", before hitting back with his own claims.
"[Donald Trump] is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!"
The Trump administration has yet to respond to the allegation, which referred to documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who died in a prison cell.
Being mentioned in the files does not necessarily mean any wrongdoing.
Mr Trump told media on Thursday he was "very disappointed" in Mr Musk.
"Look, Elon and I had a great relationship," he said.
"I don't know if we will anymore.