Written by: Bao Yilong, Wall Street Insight
Trump and Musk had just stood together in the Oval Office last week, declaring their enduring friendship, but on Thursday night, they were in real-time mockery and ins.ults. The initial sadness they displayed quickly evolved into mutual threats.<><>From July 2024 when Musk publicly supported Trump to the breakdown of their relationship, less than a year has passed, and they have become completely estranged due to the "Big Beautiful Bill".
According to CCTreport, on June 5th Beijing time, US President Trump and former head of the "Government Efficiency Department" Musk began a public verbal battle. As therel throughout Thursday's US market session, Tesla's stock price plummeted, throwing investors into panic. By the close, Tesla's stock had fallen 14%, marking its largest decline since March. Tesla's market value evaporated by over $150 billion.
The following are all in Beijing time:
June 5th 22:37
Musk reposted a "report" about Trump's tariff bill. The headline read:
Congress warns that failure to pass spending bill may delay national destruction.
June 5th 23:20
Musk reposted a 2013 tweet by Trump criticizing Republicans for raising the debt ceiling, sarcastically commenting:
How reasonable.
June 5th : 46
Usk a2012 tweet by Trump, which read:
I strongly agree that "if the US budget is not balanced, no congressman should be-.
June 6th 00:00
While meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House, Trump began responding to Musk's criticism. Trump stated:
Musk is angry because we revoked the electric vehicle mandate, you know,'s a lot of money money for electric vehicles. They (Tesla) are facing difficulties in the vehicles, yet want us to pay billions in subsidies.
He continued, saying Musk understands the inner workings of the tariff bill. He said his relationship with Musk was good - but that might be over.
June 6th 0:19
Musk seemed to immediately respond to Trump's statement about the electric vehicle mandate:
Whatever. I can accept reducing electric vehicle subsidies in the for the bill, but oil and gas subsidies remain unaffected (which is "very unfair!"). In the entire history of human civilization, bills have either been big or beautiful, never both big and beautiful.
June 6th 0:25
Remsted expressing disappointment in Musk,usk replying:
Completely wrong. This bill was never shown to me and was quickly passed in the middle of the night!
June 6th 0:46
Musk replied to X user Autism Capital, saying that without him, Trump would lose and the Democrats would control the House. He added: "How ungrateful."
Without me, Trump would lose the election, Democrats would control the House, and the Republicans would have 51-49 seats in the Senate.
June 6th 1:46
Musk rea by an X user named Wall Street MAV:
The user expressed hope that this dispute would not damage damage the relationship between the two billionaires.
Musk immediately followed with a video of Trump praising Tesla at the White House taWhite MTrump:
Remember this?
June 6th 2:10
Musk rea2021 interview, emphasizing he has always canceled electric vehicle tax relief:
This is what I said in 2021: We don't need the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit. Honestly, I'd rather directly cancel the entire infrastructure bill. Don't pass it. That was my suggestion.
June 6th 2:37
Trump joined the debate on his "Truth Social" platform. He stated:
Musk has become "unacceptable", I ask him to leave. I canceled his electric vehicle mandate that forced everyone to buy electric vehicles no one wants (he knew this a few months ago!), and he went crazy!
Trump then issued a massive threat to Musk's businesses. He said:
The easiest way to save money is to cut Musk's government contracts. I've always been surprised Biden hasn't done this.
June 6th 3:10
Musk then retaliated by directly alleging on social media:
Trump is involved in the Epstein sexual crime case, which is the real reason the US government has not released the Epstein files.
Remember to mark this tweet, the truth will to come.
June 6th 4:09
Musk rea about cutting his government contracts and threatened to retire SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, transports and personnel to Station p>Given the president's statement about canceling my government contracts, @SpaceX will immediately begin dismantling its Dragon spacecraft.
June 6th 4:11
Musk reposted a reply in a post supporting Trump impe'sachment p>- Yes
- President vs Elon. Who will win? My money is on Musk.
Trump should be impeached, JD Vance should replaceance him.
4:26
Musk rereposted a post stating:
Trump's tariffs will cause an economic recession in the second half of this year.
Good suggestion. Okay, we won't retire the spacecraft.
Musk's Dissatisfaction Was Long Brewing
On May 27, a few days before leaving the "Government Efficiency Department", Musk first commented on the tax reform bill in a CBS program. At the time, Musk's evaluation was merely "disappointed".
Regarding Trump's description of the bill as "big and beautiful", Musk's comment was also relatively restrained, saying:
I think a bill can be 'big', and it can be 'beautiful', but I don't know if it can be both.
On June 1, in the CBS interview released on June 1, Musk further expressed his dissatisfaction with the US government. Musk said in the interview that he does not want to openly oppose the US government, but also does not want to be responsible for everything the government does. Musk claimed that the "Government Efficiency Department" he led became the "scapegoat" for everything.
On June 3, Musk posted on social media that the massive bill was "ridiculous" and "nauseating". Musk said the bill would significantly increase the budget deficit to $2.5 trillion, burdening US citizens with unbearable debt.
On June 4, Musk intensified his attack on Trump's tax cut bill, calling on US citizens to contact their legislators to "kill" the bill. Musk wrote on social media that "bankrupting America is wrong".
