It only took about 140 hours for one of the world’s most powerful political alliances to crumble.
Elon Musk — who only a few months ago posted that he loved President Donald Trump “as much as a straight man can love another man” — has ignited a flame war with the president, leaving Republicans and much of everyone else in politics gawking.
“He’s lost his damn mind,” Rep. Troy Nehls said of Musk on Thursday. Other members were just content to stand back and watch. “I learned in Proverbs, don’t get in the middle of fights, that’s my official statement,” said Rep. Don Bacon.
Asked if he had any comment on the devolving Musk situation, Rep. Thomas Massie responded, “It’s all online!”
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Musk spent his last day in government service last Friday being praised by Trump and fawning over him right back. By Thursday, though, Musk was accusing Trump of being in the Jeffrey Epstein files, saying the president’s tariffs would cause a recession and agreeing that he should be impeached. Trump, meanwhile, threatened to cancel Musk’s government contracts.
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” the president wrote on Truth Social.
A White House official wouldn’t say whether, by Thursday afternoon, the White House had actually moved to start stripping Musk’s contracts. “The president was clear that he could,” the official told NOTUS.
When told by a reporter that Trump was posting on Truth Social he’d cancel Musk’s contracts, Rep. Mike Simpson responded: “Yeah? Oh shit. I don’t know how that’s gonna all play out. You knew that marriage is gonna break up eventually.”
Some allies of both men could just lament what has become of their relationship.
“Elon, for whatever reason, is very upset,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said Thursday, adding that “both men have made great contributions to what conservatism is in this country.” When NOTUS asked if she was disappointed to see the two men fight, Luna said, “Yes, of course.”
The Trump-Musk relationship imploded after Trump raked the billionaire CEO over the coals in an Oval Office meeting earlier Thursday. Musk then spent the afternoon berating the president and his allies on X, a fall from the near-Godly status Musk enjoyed during his time as a special government employee.
The alliance had survived other dust-ups while Musk was still formally working in the White House. When Musk attacked another top Trump official, calling them “dumber than a sack of bricks” over tariff policy, the White House response was to brush it off. “Boys will be boys,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
When reports leaked that Musk got into expletive-laced shouting matches with senior officials near the Oval Office, the White House response was to credit the president for bringing together a series of advisers with differing opinions.
But the president’s patience ran out once Musk started attacking something that Trump really cares about: his tax cuts.
Trump entered Thursday frustrated at Musk for his repeated attacks on his “big, beautiful bill” the White House was working to get passed in the Senate. But he stayed quiet publicly — with his administration defending the bill but not admonishing their former official.
“I give it to EOD,” one Republican official close to the White House said Thursday morning, when asked by NOTUS when the president would finally lash out. When NOTUS circled back just two hours later, after the president’s comment, all they could say was: “It was always destined to end this way.”
Since Musk’s entrance into Trump’s inner circle, the parlor game among Republicans, Democrats and the media alike was always: How long would the romance last?
“Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave,” Trump said in a separate Thursday post. “I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”
Elon then responded, “Such an obvious lie. So sad.”
Tension between the two had been building since the start of the week, when Musk decried the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” Act, which passed through the House with the full force of the president’s support. Trump and his allies chalked Musk’s anger up to the fact that electric vehicle credits, which Musk’s company Tesla benefits from, were being rolled back as part of the legislation.
Musk was by far the biggest donor to Republican candidates during the 2024 election cycle, donating over $280 million — contributions that Musk now says Trump would not have won without.
Trump, citing his chief of staff and former campaign chief, Susie Wiles, disagreed. “Elon endorsed me very strongly. He actually went up and campaigned for me. I think I would have won. Susie would say I would have won Pennsylvania easily anyway,” Trump said at Thursday’s Oval Office meeting.
Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, benefits greatly from financial ties with the United States government. According to an analysis from The Washington Post, Musk’s fortune is built on $38 billion in government funding. His ties to the White House were reportedly fruitful in helping him secure business overseas.
But the federal government is also reliant on Musk and his companies. Musk’s organizations are intertwined with Biden-era efforts to reach clean energy goals and develop infrastructure critical to national security. And while he headed DOGE, Musk increased his contracts with various agencies, including for his satellite telecommunications company, Starlink. “Starlink Guest” even shows up as an option for Wi-Fi for those seated in the White House briefing room.
Musk said in a post to X that in response to Trump’s statements about his contracts, SpaceX would be decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft, which has been performing resupply services to the International Space Station for NASA.
“This just gets better and better 🤣🤣,” Elon posted on X about the prospect of cutting his contracts. “Go ahead, make my day …”
Watching the feud in real time, the Republican official said that MAGA world was acting “like the children of divorcees waiting for Judge Mathis to decide who gets custody,” but largely believed that they would rally around Trump.
Some Republicans in Congress agreed. “Every tweet that goes out, people are more lockstep behind President Trump, and he’s losing favor,” Rep. Kevin Hern said of Musk.
But some Republican lawmakers, when asked for their reactions in real time, pleaded the Fifth.
“I’m not getting involved in that one,” Rep. Clay Higgins told NOTUS. “That’s a battle of Titans.”
“I don’t care how much money you have or you don’t have,” he continued. “You’re a man, you get up, you put your pants on the same way everybody else does. And sometimes men have disagreements.”
While Musk’s digs escalate, Trump has been known to forgive even some of his fiercest critics. Whether that’s the case this time, a White House official couldn’t answer.
“It’s just hard to say,” the official said. “Anything could happen.”
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Jasmine Wright is a reporter at NOTUS. Violet Jira is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
Reese Gorman, John T. Seward, Em Luetkemeyer, Haley Byrd Wilt, Daniella Diaz and Samuel Larreal contributed additional reporting.
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