Washington, DC - The connection between US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk has been high and low for years.
But after months of the White House, it all collapsed on Thursday.
Differences over Trump’s massive tax bill have escalated over the past few days, and Musk even showed that he should impeach the U.S. president.
In a series of social media posts, Musk launched a personal attack on Trump, ultimately proposing Trump’s claim in “Epstein’s Archives” without evidence.
The documents are linked to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which includes travel logs and guest lists related to him and his colleagues. Part of the Epstein document remains secret, sparking curiosity and conspiracy theories about those who may be mentioned.
Meanwhile, Trump responded with his social media convergence. He claimed he asked Musk to leave the White House role and suggested cutting government subsidies and contracts granted to billionaires companies.
So how did the partnership between Musk and Trump collapse? What could happen to these two men often described as the richest and most powerful people in the world?
The two seemed to be inseparable political forces in the months before the verbal war between Musk and Trump broke out.
Musk spent nearly $200 million to elect Trump as his second term in 2024. A few days after his successful election, Trump appointed Musk to lead the newly established government cutting agency called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Even the department’s name reflects the room for billionaires investors in the Trump administration. The term “Doge” refers to an internet meme for dogs favored by Musk, which became popular in 2010.
Early in Trump's second term, Musk became one of the most prominent figures in the administration and a lightning rod for public criticism. Under his leadership, Doge fired thousands of federal employees and destroyed various agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Musk appears so powerful that some Democrats have begun to call him "President Elon" to get him under Trump's skin.
But Trump and Musk proposed a unified front. In a February Fox News interview, the U.S. president and his then-advisors appeared side by side and praised each other.
"He did. He was the leader," Trump said of Musk.
"I love the president. I just want that," Musk said of Trump.
Originally from South Africa, Musk has begun to champion right-wing views over the past few years and has criticized Democrats and progressives.
Those views became even more prominent after he bought Twitter, the social media platform, in 2022. When he began to lean to the right, he used the platform to slam irregular immigration and his perceived efforts to target police free freedom of speech, especially in identity politics, as well as Pandemic on identity politics and COVID-199.
However, even during Musk's political reorganization, he and Trump exchanged harsh criticism. For example, in July 2022, Musk said Trump became “too old to be CEO of anything,” let alone being president.
He also initially supported Trump's Republican rival in the 2024 presidential campaign Ron DeSantis, and even hosted the Florida governor campaign on X.
But the failed attempt to assassinate Trump will strengthen Musk's shift in allegiance. After a bullet grazed Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024, Musk announced that he would "fully recognize" the Republican leader.
He even joined Trump, who returned to Butler in September last year.
The political cliché is that there are no permanent enemies or permanent allies, only permanent interests. That seems to be the case for Trump, who has a history of firing consultants and rejecting former friends.
Musk is just the latest high-profile breakdown, which may not be surprising to political observers.
The revelation of Trump and Musk's "crazy" comes at the end of the Rock months as rumors radiate a conflict next door about the closed inner circle between billionaires and the president.
In April, Musk announced that he would spend less time in Doge. By then, his role seemed to be declining, with billionaires no longer dominating the headlines or appearing frequently in the Oval Office.
In late May, Musk criticized the White House-backed tax and budget proposals, known as the "A Large Bill".
"Frankly, I'm disappointed to see a large spending bill that increases the budget deficit rather than reduces it and undermines the work done by the Governor's team," Musk told TV show CBS on Sunday morning.
The bill cuts subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) that promote Musk Tesla Motors. But Musk has been insisting on opposing the bill, which is because it adds government debt and its Byzantine provisions: The bill is calculated in more than 1,000 pages.
The infamous confrontational Trump fixed his vision for the economy to the bill, keeping his cool in Musk’s early criticism. He even admitted to reporters: "I am not satisfied with some aspects of (the bill).
The two then made public appearances together in the Oval Office, where Trump celebrated the end of Musk's role as a special government employee. Even then, Trump insists that Musk “has not really left” his team.
However, once he leaves the government, Musk is not only dissatisfied with the budget bill. He seems to be lobbying. The bill was narrowly passed in the House, only facing the same huge odds in the Senate.
"I'm sorry, but I can't stand it anymore. This huge, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abhorrence," Musk wrote on Monday on Monday.
"Shame to those who vote: You know you're doing something wrong. You know."
The U.S. president fired back Thursday, appearing in the Oval Office from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"I'm very disappointed because Elon knows the internal functioning of the bill better than almost everyone sitting here," Trump said. "He has no problem. Suddenly, he has a problem."
Trump told conference reporters that Musk's reaction was a strong opposition to his electric vehicle policy. He also speculated that Musk would rather stay in the White House.
"Honestly, I think he missed this place," Trump said. "It's Trump Danger Syndrome. We're with others, too. They leave, wake up in the morning, the charm fades. The whole world is different, they become hostile."
After that, Trump brought his criticism to his social media platform, the Truth Society.
"Elon 'wears skinny', Trump wrote in a social media post.
Musk has been posting on social media, criticizing Trump's bill and being praised for his re-election campaign.
"Without me, Trump will lose the election, Dems will control the House, and Republicans will be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk wrote. "This is unreasonable."
What happened next is unclear. Despite Musk's popularity within the Republican base, his political rise was partly due to his ties to Trump.
Now, he may find himself disgusted with Democrats and Trump loyalists.
On the other hand, the U.S. president has a surviving record of public scandal in including criminal charges, including criminal charges.
Trump also showed a clear willingness to put the administration's power against his competitors, recently ordered an investigation into his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
Trump has warned Musk about the risks of his business, including Rockets SpaceX and Communications Starlink. "The easiest way to save our budget is to terminate Elon's government subsidies and contracts," Trump wrote.
Despite this, Musk may hurt Trump's agenda. Trump envisioned planting the American flag on Mars in his inaugural speech, but Musk said he plans to retire the SpaceX rockets that the United States uses to arrive at the International Space Station as a retaliation for Trump's words.
Musk can also align with fiscally conservative lawmakers to prevent Trump from signing tax bills in the Senate.
Despite Musk's offense against Trump on Thursday, the U.S. president shifted the focus to one of his later social media posts.
"I don't mind Elon is against me, but he should have done so a few months ago. It's one of the greatest bills ever in Congress. It's a record of spending cuts, $1.6 trillion and the biggest tax cut ever," Trump wrote in "Social of Truth."
“If the bill is not passed, it will increase taxes by 68%, and it will be much more than that.”