Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the Social Media Torch: Two Corrupt Mends Whose Relationships Are Torn?

Two of the most media-addicted people in the world, Donald Trump and Musk, are publicly torching their relationships by posting on their social media networks. I don’t think this is kayfabe, and I have seen theories about it. Trump and Musk have publicly shit-talked people, including each other, before turning around and working with them. This is real and threats are being made. I’m just not sure how serious it is.

Wield the power of the presidency against him. The ability of Mr. Trump to direct the Justice Department to initiate investigations is one of the many powers he has at his disposal. He could end some of Mr. Musk’s pet projects, such as the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, as well as his embrace of white South Africans, a priority of Mr. Musk’s.

Use social media as an irritant. Mr. Musk asked if it was time to create a new political party that would represent 80% in the middle. Almost two million people have voted, and 80 percent of them have voted yes. Mr. Musk said that Trump should be impeached. (It was not entirely clear whether he was agreeing with impeachment or with another part of the post.)

The two of them have been a nightmare to police for over a year now. The current beef involves a lot of public information. (Trump was known to be pals with Epstein; Musk’s allegation that it’s why the files weren’t released is new.) I don’t know how much dirt they have on each other because of the amount of time they spent together.

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I was always surprised Biden didn’t do it.” Musk went crazy after Trump asked him to leave government.

Investigate Mr. Musk’s immigration status and drug use. Mr. Bannon is of the opinion that he should be deported from the country immediately because he is an illegal alien. Mr. Musk is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in South Africa. There is an investigation called for into Mr. Musk, his drug use and his efforts to be briefed about military plans involving China.

May 2025Musk announced he was leaving the government, citing the end of his “scheduled time” as a special government employee. At a final Oval Office press conference, Trump praised Musk as “one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced.”

January 2025Musk was one of several tech billionaires who attended Trump’s inauguration. At another event that day, he sparked outrage when he performed a salute most prominently affiliated with Nazis.

August 2024Musk hosted an interview with Trump on X. After lengthy technical delays, the conversation largely followed the contours of Trump’s campaign speeches, and the two men both praised and talked past one another.

Musk joined Trump on the campaign trail. Wearing a custom black “Make America Great Again” hat, the billionaire addressed a rally in Butler, Penn., where he hopped around on stage, described himself as “dark MAGA,” and predicted “this will be the last election” if Trump were not to win.

Musk held a number of $1 million gifts for undecided voters in swing states, at the Madison Square Garden stage, where Trump was holding another rally.

During the election night in November, we spent time at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. The morning after, he celebrated by posting an apparently AI-generated image of himself saluting the American flag, captioned, “It is morning in America again.”

The Trump-Trump era: From Musk to the Trump White House: The End of the Problem for the U.S. and Europe

Late 2024Trump announced Musk and former Republican presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy would co-lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” focused on curbing federal spending. At the time it was not clear whether the entity would exist inside or outside the government.

Musk joined the White House as a presidential advisor after the inauguration. He has a 130-working day clock because he is a special government employee. He became the face of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is not an official congressionally created federal department. Even though the Trump administration tried to argue that Musk was not the leader of DOGE, he was still the de facto leader.

“The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what people are going to get,” Musk told reporters. “They’re going to get what they voted for.”

They addressed the concerns that Musk’s companies have conflicts of interest because they are regulated by some of the agencies DOGE has targeted.

Musk attended the first meeting of the Cabinet. Trump introduced Musk by saying the billionaire was “sacrificing a lot” through his government work.

Trump asked the journalist if any agency heads were unhappy with Musk’s approach. His question was met with laughter.

The White House lawn was turned into a temporaryTesla showroom in March of 2025, by Trump and Musk. Trump sat inside a red Model S with Musk and announced his intention to buy a Tesla, in a show of support amid a global backlash against Tesla over Musk’s controversial involvement in politics in both the U.S. and Europe, where he has thrown his support behind far-right parties.

Musk said that the Big Beautiful Bill was going to drive up the federal budget deficit and wreck the work of DOGE.

It’s a reality, whether you think it’s good or bad. The president’s done gone out of his way to make sure that Elon had every opportunity, all the support, admiration, resources. He and his family went to stay with Trump for Christmas. The president denied the extension to stay sought by the man. I believe that was the beginning of the problem. And as I’ve said before, since December, this was inevitable. I think the president needs to deal with it as a national security issue.

On Thursday, their disagreements over the Republican mega-bill advancing most of Trump’s biggest domestic policy priorities erupted into personal attacks, with the two men using their respective social media platforms to hurl insults.

He said Musk “knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody” and “never had a problem until right after he left.” “This bill was never shown to me, even once,” Musk said on X.

There have never been legislation that is both large and beautiful in the history of civilization. “Everyone knows this! Either you have a large bill or a small bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.”

The World is Not the Same as Yesterday: Donald Trump, Sarah Sanders and SpaceX confront Trump in the aftermath of the May 12, 2016 meltdown

They leave and wake up in the morning with no glamor. Trump said that the world is not the same as before and that he was not sure what it was.

Stephen Miller and Charlie Kirk were also unfollowed by Musk. He put up a poll which asked if it was time to create a new political party in America that actually represented the 80% in the middle. The poll is pinned to Musk’s profile at this time. “Yes” is in the lead with 83 percent of the votes.

The May ended but it seems the meltdowns are just beginning. Right now, we’re watching two men with leverage over each other fight with vague threats and public information. The stakes are high as the fight escalates.

An alleged member of Musk’s coterie of baby mamas has taken to social media. If Musk needs any advice on a broken relationship, St. Clair wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are attempting to subpoena Musk. Nancy Mace (R-SC) suspended the hearing to give Republicans time to arrive and vote against the subpoena. Should Trump demand it, it’s easy to imagine another vote happening — one that hauls Musk in front of Congress.

Who is winning? The price of the stock fell 14 percent today to $284.70. With the spending bill, Trump can hurt Musk. The Washington Post said that Musk started his career in the US by working illegally. That could potentially complicate his naturalization and create grounds for the Trump government to strip him of his citizenship, and possibly even deport him back to South Africa. Would that be legal? It appears that ICE is not interested in the matter.

Then, just after the market closed, Musk posted, “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.” The Dragon is used to transport cargo to the International Space Station.

Why Elon Musk and Axios Crossed the Rubicon: Defending the Deficit by a Special Government Employee

I would question the use of “went” in that sentence but sure. That is a very actionable threat. (Also jawboning, though at this point who’s keeping track?) It would probably fuck up what’s left of NASA in a pretty significant way, but whatever.

Now, both of these men are excellent at commanding attention, and this is a reality-TV squabble playing out on social media. It is not nice at all. The posting about the deficit by a government contractor, whose business empire is heavily dependent on federal contracts, is serving up a nice volley. It was spiked by Trump.

A reporter writes about tech, money and human behavior. She was the science editor at The Verge. Previously, she was a reporter at Bloomberg.

Elon Musk “crossed the Rubicon” when he echoed sentiments on his social media platform X, calling for President Trump to be impeached, says former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

Last year, Bannon went to prison because he refused to testify in a congressional investigation. He pleaded guilty in New York state to crimes. In January, Bannon toldNPR he thought Trump would listen to the populist movement that helped him get two presidencies over the billionaires backing his inauguration.

Note: Axios reported on June 3 that Musk sought to remain working as a “special government employee” beyond his statutorily allowed 130-day contract but was denied. NPR hasn’t independently confirmed this.

The New York Times: Steve Bannon crossed the Rubicon and he has no ‘going back’ for Elon Musk after calling for Trump impeachment

Bannon: Steve, look, I think that this is not personal now. I think we have as a country a national security issue here. The New York Times has said that there is an individual with a massive drug problem. We have an individual that has a deep financial and business relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. And we know he’s asked for private briefings of top secret information. He’s involved in the invitation for PresidentXi to come to the inauguration. You have someone whose legal status is in question. A white South African who may be here illegally was one of the Third World countries that came here at the invitation of the Biden regime. It’s just not right.

Bannon: He crossed the Rubicon. It’s quite another thing to discuss the spending on the bill. There is something else to say about what he did. You have to sit and wait until the bill is over to try to destroy it. Number one is the most important legislative occurrence of this first term and you don’t have to say kill it. Number two, he crossed the Rubicon by this outrageous comparison to the Epstein files about saying President Trump should be impeached, replaced by JD Vance. This is so outrageous. It’s crossed the line. He crossed over the edge and there isn’t any going back.

Source: No ‘going back’ for Elon Musk after calling for Trump impeachment, says Steve Bannon

A tale of scalar monstrous forces driven by a supersymmetrical particle in a low-dimensional gravity gravity field, edited by Leah Advani

The story was edited by a woman. The radio version was edited by Reena Advani and produced by Barry Gordemer, Julie Depenbrock and Nia Dumas.