Analyzing the falling out between Donald Trump and Elon Musk

Elon Musk (left) and Donald Trump (right) Image Credit: ABC News

This past week, all eyes have been on the White House as the aftermath of the apparent dissolution of U.S. President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, Elon Musk originally said he was, "not the right guy" (CBS). However, in 2022, Musk began his separation from causes in the Democratic Party and began throwing his support behind the Republican Party. He began by supporting Ron DeSantis in his run for the Republican nomination for the 2024 Presidential Election, but would eventually switch to supporting Trump on July 13, 2024, not long Trump survived an assassination attempt.

Following Trump's victory in the 2024 Election, Elon Musk became increasingly involved in Donald Trump's administration. Elon Musk is credited as the mind behind the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) designed to cut federal spending costs and has taken a front-seat role in aiding Donald Trump's policy decisions and spreading his message, whether it was sitting in on Cabinet meetings or traveling with the president on Air Force One.

However, their alliance began crumbling on the topic of a piece of legislation commonly known as, "the Big Beautiful Bill," which outlines Trump's goals, including but not limited to expanding the 2017 tax cuts and border protection. Several politicians, including Republicans, criticize the bill for its scope and the consideration that it may add several trillion dollars to the national debt (Congressional Budget Office). Elon Musk was one of those critics, namely on the price tag that the bill presents. After serving the maximum number of days he could serve as a special government employee, Musk left the White House.

Following his departure, the division between the two billionaires spread even farther. Musk has now called the bill a "disgusting abomination" and gone on to say that without him, Donald Trump would have lost the 2024 Election. Donald Trump has responded by deciding to sell his brand-new Tesla that he bought initially in support of Musk and has threatened to discontinue all of the federal contracts that Musk has with the U.S. government. Musk has responded by saying he will withdraw his SpaceX programs that NASA relies on to transport astronauts and declaring that the real reason that the 'Epstein list' (referring to the files of names associated with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financer who faced sex trafficking allegations) wasn't released to the public was because Donald Trump was on it.

The feud is likely not to slow down as Elon Musk continues to criticize Donald Trump on his platform X (formerly known as Twitter), and President Trump continues to renounce his ties to Musk, demonstrating to the American public that their association is decidedly nearing full termination.