Trump and Musk trade insults as row erupts in public view

The conflict between US President Donald Trump and former adviser Elon Musk has intensified. They exchanged insults after Musk criticized Trump's key tax and spending bill.

On Thursday, the feud escalated on their social media platforms. This suggests a bitter end to their unlikely alliance.

Trump expressed disappointment over Musk's criticisms of his administration's bill. He hinted it might mark the end of their "great relationship."

Musk responded by accusing Trump of "ingratitude." He claimed, "Without me, Trump would have lost the election."

Later, Trump downplayed the situation. He told Politico, "Oh it's okay. It's going very well." His aides scheduled a call with Musk for Friday.

Musk seemed open to reconciliation. In response to Bill Ackman’s post about making peace, he wrote: "You're not wrong."

The rift began after weeks of Musk opposing Trump's spending bill. The House passed this bill last month and it awaits a Senate vote.

After leaving his position at Doge, Musk called the bill a "disgusting abomination." He urged followers to oppose it and shame those who voted for it.

Musk argued that the bill irresponsibly adds to national debt. He encouraged people to contact their representatives against the plan.

During a news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump defended the bill. He expressed disappointment because Musk understood its details well.

Trump suggested Musk was upset about cuts to electric vehicle subsidies affecting Tesla. However, Musk denied this claim.

He stated he wanted to keep EV incentives but remove wasteful spending in the bill. In US politics, "pork" refers to unnecessary government spending aimed at pleasing specific groups.

Their partnership began when Musk endorsed Trump last July after an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. Reports say he contributed $290 million towards Trump's campaign efforts.

Following Thursday's news conference, Musk claimed credit for Republican victories in November's elections. He wrote: "Without me, Trump would have lost."

He also posted a poll asking if it's time for a new political party representing moderates.

Throughout the day, Musk reposted calls for Trump's resignation and criticized his tariff plan as recession-triggering. He also suggested without evidence that Trump is linked to Jeffrey Epstein’s unreleased files.

Epstein was arrested in 2019 on sex trafficking charges and died while awaiting trial. Trump acknowledged knowing Epstein but said they had a falling out long ago.

The White House condemned Musk's allegations as unfortunate behavior from him regarding the spending bill. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated he was unhappy because it lacked his desired policies.

On Truth Social, Trump claimed that Musk had gone “crazy.” He suggested cutting Elon's government subsidies could save billions in budget costs.

Musk’s companies like Tesla and SpaceX benefit from government contracts and subsidies like many others do.

In response to Trump's comments, Musk threatened to decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft used for ISS missions but later retracted that threat after receiving advice on X.

Tesla stock dropped by 14% shortly after their public dispute began.

According to recent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, the spending bill could increase national debt by $2.4 trillion over ten years and leave nearly 11 million without health insurance coverage.

The White House disputes these figures, claiming they don't consider revenue from increased tariffs.

As head of Doge focused on cutting government spending, Musk initiated mass layoffs and eliminated departments like USAID.

Doge claims savings of $180 billion; however, this figure is disputed and falls short of his goal of cutting up to $2 trillion in spending.