The big, beautiful breakup

Politico

2 days ago

Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond.
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One of them brought a match. The other promptly supplied the kerosene. And, frankly, we just can't look away.
DONALD TRUMP and ELON MUSK publicly set their relationship ablaze today, the epic reversal of what once appeared to be a bulletproof bromance.
Today's drama began when Trump said during his bilateral meeting with German Chancellor FRIEDRICH MERZ that he was 'surprised' and 'disappointed' by Musk's multi-day social media attacks over the GOP's megabill, Trump's top legislative priority.
'Elon and I had a great relationship,' Trump told reporters. 'I don't know if we will anymore.' He later said he was 'very disappointed in Elon' and that he'd 'helped Elon a lot.'
'He hasn't said [anything] bad about me personally, but I'm sure that will be next,' the president said.
Cue the social media blitz.
Minutes later, Musk posted on X: 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.'
'Such ingratitude,' Musk added. He donated nearly $300 million in the 2024 election.
Trump shot back on Truth Social, leveling a not-so-veiled threat against Musk where it really hurts: His billions of dollars in 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,' Trump posted of the man he had deputized to cut government spending by reducing subsidies and slashing contracts. 'I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!'
In response, Musk said his company SpaceX would 'immediately' start decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft, which works with NASA to carry its astronauts to space.
The schoolyard-petty nature of the divorce took a nastier turn when Musk accused Trump of being listed in the infamous Jeffrey Epstein files. He followed up with a cryptic message: 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.' (We're around, Elon, whenever you wanna dish!)
It's a remarkably quick about-face for what was arguably the most powerful billionaire pairing out there. Musk, after shattering fundraising records to sweep Trump into the White House, took on a prominent role atop the Department of Government Efficiency and was given broad authority — with little oversight — to slash his way through the federal bureaucracy over the last four months.
Less than a week ago, to mark the end of Musk's 'special government employee' role, Musk and Trump appeared in the Oval together, thanking each other for their work over the course of a friendly, nearly hour-long news conference.
Since then, Musk embarked on a three-day social media rampage while Trump held his fire, seemingly because Musk hadn't gone after him personally. Earlier today, Musk needled Trump directly for the first time — resurfacing old social media posts in which Trump said he was 'embarrassed' by Republican efforts to extend the debt limit.
Musk shared the posts on X, which he owns, adding his own facetious approval.
'I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling—I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!' Trump wrote in the January 2013 post.
'Wise words,' Musk replied in a post today.
Trump in the Oval today claimed Musk had known 'the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody' and 'he had no problem with it.' That changed, Trump said, once Musk left the government last week.
Now that Musk's officially unburdened by the bromance, perhaps we'll learn just how much else the administration has done that he actually, clearly, did have a problem with.
MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at [e-mail].
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POTUS PUZZLER
Who was the first former president to get his own library after leaving office?
(Answer at bottom.)
Musk Radar
MUSK V. THE WORLD: Musk isn't only arguing with the president. Throughout the day, he continued attacks on Speaker MIKE JOHNSON and Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE, digging up videos of the two congressional leaders speaking about the need for less federal spending. 'Where is the Mike Johnson of 2023!?'; 'Where is the John Thune of 2020??' Musk captioned the posts.
Johnson called Musk 'a good friend' earlier this morning.
Musk also posted a poll asking his followers whether it's time to create a new political party. Fellow billionaire MARK CUBAN seemed to endorse the idea, responding to the poll with three check marks.
One of Musk's exes and mother of one of his children, ASHLEY ST. CLAIR, chimed in on the saga: 'hey @realDonaldTrump lmk if u need any breakup advice.'
ALWAYS GOT RON: Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS appears to be the first major Republican to back Musk's call to primary Republicans who voted in favor of the immigration and tax megabill while not codifying DOGE cuts. Restore Our Nation, one of DeSantis' political fundraising committees that was retooled after his presidential campaign, blasted out a text message on Wednesday urging supporters to 'help elect real conservatives who will finish the job' of DOGE, our KIMBERLY LEONARD writes in.
The text is the clearest sign yet that term-limited DeSantis plans to get involved in the 2026 primary and general elections.
And this afternoon in the midst of Musk and Trump's breakup, DeSantis blasted out another fundraising email, titled, 'Elon Musk took the hits and led the charge.'
In the Courts
THOSE PESKY JUDGES: A federal judge today blocked the Trump administration from dismantling AmeriCorps in two dozen Democratic-led states, Ben and Sophia report. The ruling from U.S. District Judge DEBORAH BOARDMAN came after a coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia sued the administration in April, accusing DOGE of illegally gutting the volunteer agency.
Boardman's ruling says the administration 'likely violated' the Administrative Procedure Act by not providing an adequate notice-and-comment period, and that it must restore the affected AmeriCorps programs in the 24 states and D.C.
She declined to weigh in on the widespread personnel cuts at the agency, which have hit 85 percent of the workforce. White House spokesperson ANNA KELLY said the ruling would not be the final say on the matter. 'President Trump has the right to restore accountability to the entire Executive Branch,' she said.
Agenda Setting
EXODUS AT HUD: So many staffers have departed the Department of Housing and Urban Development that the agency may not have enough employees to perform core government functions, Bloomberg's KRISTON CAPPS reports. A confidential report obtained by Bloomberg from HUD's Office of General Counsel warns that the loss of lawyers due to Trump administration staff cuts and early resignations is 'significantly increasing litigation risk and the risk of fraud, waste and abuse' across housing programs.
The report comes ahead of a Government Accountability Office audit requested by Democrats including Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Committee staff say the audit is necessary to ensure HUD can still adequately enforce fair housing laws in the wake of the DOGE cuts.
NOT SO FAST: The government halted a plan to issue a $47 million contract for an expanded ICE detention center in Georgia amid the contract's review by DOGE, WaPo's DOUGLAS MacMILLAN and HANNAH NATANSON report. Federal policy requires all DHS contracts worth more than $20 million to be reviewed by DOGE.
Knives Out
OVER ON THE HILL: House Democrats today failed to subpoena Musk to testify on Capitol Hill, our HAILEY FUCHS reports. The House Oversight Committee rejected Democrats' request for Musk to appear before lawmakers in a party-line, 21-20 vote.
Ranking member STEPHEN LYNCH (D-Mass.) argued that Musk, DOGE and the Trump administration threatened the 'privacy and security of all Americans' and that Trump has given Musk 'free reign to terrorize our civil servants.'
What We're Reading
The U.S. bought $12 million in aid for poor nations. Under Trump, it may be destroyed. (WaPo's Meg Kelly, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Jon Swaine and Sarah Blaskey)
Senate Republicans Seek to Protect NASA Programs Targeted for Cuts (WSJ's Micah Maidenberg)
Trump 101: Inside world leaders' playbook for surviving the Oval Office meeting (POLITICO's Eli Stokols, Robbie Gramer and Nick Taylor-Vaisey)
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
The first presidential library was built for former President RUTHERFORD B. HAYES in 1916 in Fremont, Ohio. But the first federally administered presidential library was built in 1939 in honor of former President FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, who was the first to hand over his personal and presidential records to the federal government.
The FDR Presidential Library and Museum was then built in Hyde Park, New York. The Presidential Records Act was passed in 1978, declaring that all future presidents must turn their records over to the National Archives.