President Donald Trump and Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk have recently been in a public feud. Trump had mostly kept quiet while Musk expressed his frustration on his social media, X, about Trump’s spending plan, which he referred to as the “Big Beautiful Bill.” However, Trump didn’t hold back on Thursday during an event in the Oval Office, stating he was “very disappointed” in Musk.
The dramatic fallout occurred on Thursday when Trump threatened to terminate Musk’s government contracts. In response, Musk accused Trump’s administration of not releasing all documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, suggesting that Trump is mentioned in those records.
Furthermore, Musk shared a post on social media calling for Trump’s impeachment and criticized the president’s signature tariffs, predicting a recession in the near future.
The public disagreement between the president of the United States and the world’s richest person unfolded on their social media accounts. This conflict started when Trump was asked about Musk’s negative comments regarding his spending plan during a meeting at the White House with Germany’s new leader.
Musk took to social media to respond in real time. Trump was supposed to be discussing the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, but he shifted focus to Musk, even threatening to negatively impact Musk’s businesses. He hinted at potentially using government actions to target contracts that Musk holds with his internet service, Starlink, and his rocket company, SpaceX.
Last week, Musk had a somewhat somber press conference in the Oval Office. He appeared with a black eye, which he claimed was from his young son, but it seemed to symbolize the turbulent period he has experienced in government service.
Trump, known for making comments about people’s appearances, jokingly said, “I said, ‘Do you want a little makeup? We’ll get you a little makeup.’ Which is interesting,”
Many people had speculated that the friendship between these two well-known figures, both known for their sharp words, would eventually lead to conflict, and it certainly did, all in under a year.