Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s big beautiful bromance imploded violently on June 5 as the two exchanged posts on social media like middle schoolers going through their first breakup. It remains to be seen what this means for the country or who will get JD Vance in the divorce, but it’s very fun to watch.
This all started with Musk’s vehement opposition to a Republican spending bill (called the One Big Beautiful Bill — a cornerstone of Trump’s legislative agenda) that would cut EV tax credits for Tesla (and other automakers) among other things that would impact his businesses negatively. He urged lawmakers to “KILL thee BILL” and warned it would add to the deficit. Here’s what happened next. From the Washington Post:
Musk, who spent at least $288 million in 2024 to help elect Trump and other Republicans, accused the president of “such ingratitude” and publicly mused about starting a third party.
Trump responded by threatening Musk’s government contracts. The stock price of Tesla, the electric-vehicle company Musk owns, fell sharply, down 14 percent at the market close. The value of Trump’s meme coin also dropped.
Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service project was already winding down, with many of his aides returning to their private businesses. Others, however, have remained prominently in government, and as perceived allies of Musk, they could face retaliation. Musk’s increasingly harsh criticisms of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill — the president’s main legislative priority — have already complicated the measure’s path in a closely divided Congress.
The public unraveling began in the Oval Office, where Trump spoke to reporters at the start of a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“Elon and I had a great relationship,” he said. “I don’t know if we will anymore.”
From here, things really ramped up — especially on Musk’s end. He wrote on his social media site, X, that he agreed Trump should be impeached and replaced with JD Vance. In another post, he warned that the President’s tariffs would cause a recession in the second half of this year, and he sent out a poll asking if it was time to “create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle.”
Then, things got even wilder.
Trump responded with posts on Truth Social, saying that “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.”
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Musk volleyed back, declaring it was “time to drop the really big bomb” that Trump “is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day DJT!”
Of course, Musk didn’t offer any sort of evidence for this claim. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called it an “unfortunate episode” for Musk.
Unless something wacky happens, this marks the end of a nearly year-long bromance. Musk threw his support and $290 million behind Trump during the 2024 election cycle. It bought him a lot of access to the White House once Trump was inaugurated, but it seems that all of that is over now.
Gone are the days of Musk posting that he loves Trump “as much as a straight man can love another man.”
