Just days ago, Donald Trump and Elon Musk were seen as political power partners. Now, things have gone completely off the rails. On Wednesday, during a private White House meeting, there wasn’t much to suggest a dramatic split was on the horizon. But by Thursday, the rift had exploded into public view—and the gloves were officially off.
Two White House sources revealed that during the Wednesday meeting, Trump was confused and frustrated by Musk’s harsh criticism of his sweeping tax and spending plan. But at that moment, Trump kept his cool, not wanting to jeopardize Musk’s financial and political support ahead of the midterms.
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Then Musk detonated. On Thursday, he unleashed a scorched-earth post on his social media platform, X, blasting the bill as a “disgusting abomination” and promising to oppose any Republican who backed it. The bill aligns with many of Trump’s top priorities but also adds $2.4 trillion to the $36.2 trillion national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
By Thursday afternoon, Trump had lost all patience. “The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon’s government subsidies and contracts,” he posted on Truth Social. Musk shot back fast, endorsing a post calling for Trump’s impeachment and even floated the idea of starting a new political party.
Sitting beside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters he was “very disappointed” in his former ally. Privately, Trump had been calling Musk volatile for some time, but this was the first clear public sign that their political friendship had completely unraveled.
The Trump-Musk partnership had once been unprecedented—a president giving a billionaire tech mogul serious influence inside the White House. Musk donated nearly $300 million to Trump and other Republican candidates during the last cycle. He shaped policies, boosted Trump’s messages to millions online, and led a government efficiency initiative.
Last week, Trump even held a farewell for Musk and assured everyone that “Elon is really not leaving.” But that optimism quickly turned to disbelief. “It caught the president and the entire West Wing off guard,” one White House official admitted.
Neither Musk nor his super PAC, America PAC, responded to requests for comment, nor did spokesperson Katie Miller.
The White House later issued a statement describing the breakup as “an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.”
The fallout hit fast. Tesla’s stock plunged 14 percent on Thursday. Meanwhile, Trump allies in Congress are feeling the heat as they try to pass the massive spending package that Democrats and some Republicans still oppose.
The turning point may have been Trump’s decision to withdraw the nomination of Jared Isaacman—Musk’s pick for NASA administrator. “He was not happy” about that, one official confirmed. Isaacman later posted, “I am incredibly grateful to President Trump, the Senate and all those who supported me.”
Before that, Trump aides had already been pulling back Musk’s authority behind the scenes, shifting control of staffing and budget decisions back to cabinet secretaries. Musk, frustrated that he couldn’t push deeper spending cuts, had begun signaling that he might step away.
A Friday call between Trump and Musk is scheduled. Whether they patch things up or go full-on political rivals remains to be seen.