Inside the 72-hour meltdown of the Trump–Musk alliance

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Elon Musk’s rebuke of Donald Trump’s tax bill has escalated into a full-blown political feud, unraveling a once-close alliance between the tech mogul and the president.

A fiery political feud has erupted between President Donald Trump and former ally Elon Musk, triggered by Musk’s condemnation of Trump’s proposed tax and domestic policy bill as a “disgusting abomination.”

On Thursday, Musk intensified the row by resurfacing old GOP concerns about spending. Trump responded by floating the idea of canceling federal contracts with Musk’s companies.

The clash highlights a dramatic breakdown in their relationship; Musk was, until recently, a vocal supporter and adviser to the Trump administration.

 

June 3
1:31 PM ET
Musk posts that the “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.”


June 4
2:07 am ET
Musk claims the budget bill would “defeat all the cost savings achieved” by DOGE.

1:59 pm ET

Trump posts an image on Truth of Musk’s post announcing he’s leaving government.

Yes https://t.co/TzdLrczILO

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025


11:20 am ET
Musk shares old Trump post criticizing Republican lawmakers for raising the debt ceiling, adding “wise words.”


11:46 am ET
Musk reposts an old Trump post saying “no member of Congress should be eligible for reelection” if the US budget isn’t balanced, with Musk adding “I couldn’t agree more.”


12:01 pm ET
Trump confirms the deterioration of his relationship with Musk, saying he was “very disappointed” in the tech billionaire after he repeatedly blasted the president’s sweeping domestic agenda bill. “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office, less than one week after the two exchanged effusive praise on Musk’s last day as a special government employee.


12:10 pm ET
Musk posts “Slim Beautiful Bill for the win.”


12:19 pm ET
Musk posts that he would support a “slim” bill that included EV incentive cuts.


12:25 pm ET
Musk disputes Trump’s claim that Musk reviewed the budget bill, saying he was not shown the bill “even once.”


12:46 pm ET
Musk claims that without him, Trump would have lost the election.


12:46 pm ET
In a follow-up post, Musk says “such ingratitude.”


1:38 pm ET
Musk reposts video from Trump’s promotion of Tesla at the White House earlier this year, during which the president said Musk “never asked me for a thing.”


1:42 pm ET
Musk encourages lawmakers to “Keep the EV/solar incentives cuts in the bill,” but also “cut all the crazy spending increases.”


1:44 pm ET
Musk posts claim that budget bill will increase US deficit to $2.5 trillion.

1:48 pm ET
Musk posts “Kill Bill.”


1:57 pm ET
Musk starts X poll asking if America needs a new political party.


2:10 pm ET
Musk shared a video of him in 2021 claiming Tesla doesn’t rely on EV subsidies.


2:16 pm ET
Musk responds to post from Laura Loomer suggesting that lawmakers should side with him in budget bill fight because “Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years.”


2:21 pm ET
Musk shared an old X post from House Speaker Mike Johnson raising concern about US national debt and said “Where is the Mike Johnson 2023!?”

2:23 pm ET
Musk claims members of Congress didn’t have time to read the budget bill.


2:25 pm ET
Musk posted an video of Sen. John Thune from 2020 raising concern about US debt, with the billionaire adding, “Where is the John Thune of 2020??”


2:30 pm ET
Musk reposts X post from a Jerome Powell parody account asking whether Musk or Trump is right.

2:35 pm ET
Musk reposts another old post from Johnson calling on Congress to reduce deficit spending, with the billionaire adding, “I super agree with this guy.”


2:36 pm ET
Musk posts that Congress is “spending America into bankruptcy.”

2:37 pm ET

Trump claims he asked Musk to leave the administration and took away his “his EV mandate,” after which he alleges Musk “just went CRAZY!”

2:37 pm ET

Trump posts that the US government could save billions of dollars in its budget by terminating the contracts and subsidies awarded to Musk’s companies.

2:48 pm ET
Musk refutes Trump’s claim that his disagreement with the “big, beautiful bill” is related to EVs.


3:10 pm ET
Musk claims Trump is “in” the Jeffrey Epstein files.

3:20 pm ET
Follow-up Musk X post claims “the truth will come out.”
3:33 pm ET
Ye, the rapper also known as Kanye West, weighs in.


3:45 pm ET
House Speaker Mike Johnson hits back at Musk’s criticism and defends the budget bill.


4:06 pm ET
Trump complains about the timing of Musk’s fight in the middle of the administration’s effort to pass his policy bill in Congress.

4:09 pm ET
Musk threatens to decommission the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that returned NASA astronauts from the International Space Station.
4:11 pm ET
Musk agrees with X user calling for Trump’s impeachment.

4:15 pm ET
Tesla’s stock plunged around 14% Thursday, erasing about $150 billion off the company’s market value.

4:26 pm ET
Musk claims Trump’s tariffs will cause recession.

4:43 pm ET

Musk shares a video showing Trump at a party with Epstein, along with a raised eyebrow emoji.

5:30 pm ET
Musk shows support for a post by billionaire investor Bill Ackman that urged Musk and Trump to “make peace.” Musk says Ackman is “not wrong.”

6:48 pm ET
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt calls Musk’s claim that President Donald Trump is “in the Epstein files” an “unfortunate episode” in a statement Thursday night.

“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,” Leavitt told CNN in a statement.

9:20 PM ET
Musk walks back his threat to decommission the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which takes NASA astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.

9:21 PM ET
Musk says that “if America goes broke, nothing else matters” while sharing a clip from an interview he did in February talking about the country’s national debt.

 

June 6 2:58 AM ET Musk responds to an X post that said there is “no political will” within the main political parties to cut US government spending or debt levels. He says: “True so far.”

 

READ MORE AT CNN

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