Why President Trump And Elon Musk Are Feuding In Ugly Online Brawl
on Jun 05, 2025
Following His Departure From The White House, The Tech Billionaire And President Are At Odds
Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who runs Tesla, SpaceX, and X, formerly Twitter, has been a fixture of the White House.
Overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Musk was tasked with identifying government waste to decrease the nation’s annual $6.5 trillion budget and cut away at its debt of $36 trillion.
However, Musk’s exit from the White House as a Special Government Employee on May 30 has been marked by tension, and has recently seen the two speak more disparagingly of one another.
On Thursday, June 5, Trump and Musk have exchanged a series of social media posts, showing the world the collapse of their working relationship.
Initiating a back and forth, Trump wrote on Truth Social on June 5:
Musk replied on X, “Such an obvious lie. So sad.”
This kind of language is a departure from the tone of the May 30 farewell press conference held for Musk in the Oval Office, which saw the two shake hands. Trump also presented Musk with a “key to the White House,” saying the American people owed Musk “a debt of gratitude.”
How Did This Divide Come About?
Shortly after President Trump won the 2024 presidential election, the then president-elect announced on November 12, 2024, the formation of a new governmental department: DOGE.
Created with the special aim of working to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Elon Musk was named as an overseer of this initiative.
Musk — the world’s wealthiest man and a tech entrepreneur who runs Tesla, SpaceX, and X, formerly Twitter —enthusiastically said, “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!”
When Trump was sworn in for his second term on January 20, Musk’s status as a Special Government Employee began, kicking off the work of DOGE.
From January 20 to May 30, or the minimum Special Government Employee tenure of 130 days, Musk and the DOGE team saved the American taxpayer an estimated $175 billion by eliminating wasteful spending and prioritizing American initiatives.
Some division became visible after the House of Representatives approved the Trump-backed budget bill, affectionately known as the One, Big Beautiful Bill.
While the bill is now being debated over by the Senate, Musk questioned the bill, telling CBS Sunday Morning in the week leading up to his departure, “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both.”
Further, he honed in on the $4 trillion increase to the debt ceiling, saying it was a provision counter to the work of DOGE.
The June 5 Back And Forth, And Allegation
On June 5, Musk shared several posts inquiring about the logic of seeking to decrease spending by increasing spending, including “receipts” with past comments from both Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) regarding government spending.
Trump’s post on Truth Social with his account of telling Musk to exit DOGE while revoking his electric vehicle mandate was not the last Trump had to say on the matter.
In his next post, Trump wrote:
To this, Musk replied, “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.”
Musk then made an allegation against Trump, writing, “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
The Epstein files, regarding the mysterious 2019 death in prison of entrepreneur and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, have long been sought after, inspiring the meme “Epstein didn’t kill himself.”
As of the afternoon of June 5, Trump has not commented on the allegation made by Musk, but did write the following after Musk made the allegation:
This is a developing story.
