Trump, Musk Feud Explodes Into Scandal

Extraordinary public breakdown sees billionaire accuse US President of Epstein links as political alliance collapses.

Is anyone surprised? If you were naïve enough to believe the Trump-Musk partnership was anything but a business relationship — rather than a genuine effort of shared values or public service — this spectacular collapse has exposed it for what it always was: a transactional alliance driven by mutual self-interest, personal ambition, and the relentless pursuit of power.

To many, Musk’s partnership with Trump was a political coup of enormity — seemingly just what American politics needed: a wrecking ball of will and power to help address the declining empire’s deepening dysfunction, broken institutions, and eroding global dominance. But like most grand experiments built on ego and opportunism, it was always destined to fracture under the weight of competing interests.

It had been one of the most unlikely — and potent — alliances in American politics: Trump, the master of populist disruption, and Musk, one of the world’s richest men and self-styled architect of the future. For years, their partnership thrived on shared interests, mutual admiration and a willingness to bend the rules of politics, business, and even reality itself.

Now, after just 130 days into Trump’s presidency, his power is collapsing — embattled under the weight of perceived weakness, an administration mired in incompetence and corruption, diplomacy reduced to duplicity, geopolitical ignorance, and subservience to Israel. The collapse of his relationship with Musk — and its spectacular implosion — is yet another sign of a presidency that increasingly appears almost dead.

In an extraordinary public rupture playing out almost entirely on social media, Musk and Trump have exchanged personal attacks, political threats, and even criminal allegations — culminating in Musk accusing Trump of being named in the sealed Jeffrey Epstein files.

“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!” Musk posted on X, linking to a decades-old video showing Trump at Mar-a-Lago alongside Epstein and a group of young women. “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”

The nuclear allegation sent shockwaves through Washington and Wall Street, not least because of Musk’s previous closeness to the President. The photo Musk referenced showed Trump, Melania, Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000. Trump has repeatedly denied any criminal involvement with Epstein or knowledge of his sex trafficking operation. No public evidence has surfaced directly linking Trump to Epstein’s crimes.

Musk’s decision to invoke the Epstein scandal marks an extraordinary escalation in what has become one of the most spectacular political breakups in modern American history.

The collapse comes against the backdrop of Trump’s controversial “Big Beautiful Bill” — a sweeping tax and spending package that eliminates key electric vehicle subsidies and implements steep tariffs Trump argues will deliver "the biggest surplus in American history."

The bill, passed rapidly through Congress with limited debate, has drawn fierce opposition from Musk, whose Tesla empire depends heavily on government incentives for electric vehicle adoption.

“Elon is upset because we took away the EV mandate — which was a lot of money for electric vehicles,” Trump said from the Oval Office while hosting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “They want us to pay billions and billions of dollars in subsidies… I know that disturbed him.”

Musk flatly denied the accusation, countering: “Such an obvious lie. So sad.”

He also attacked the legislation itself, calling it reckless and fiscally dangerous. “In the entire history of civilisation, there has never been legislation that’s both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.”

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will increase the deficit by $2.5 trillion over the next decade. Trump rejects that, claiming his tariffs will generate more than enough revenue to offset spending. “We think it’ll be a minimum of $2.8 trillion in tariff revenue,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

At the heart of the rupture is not just policy but personal grievance. Musk, who donated over $250 million to Republican campaigns and played a highly visible role in Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, believes his support was instrumental to Trump’s victory.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House, and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk said. “Such ingratitude.”

Trump, for his part, expressed disappointment and bewilderment at Musk’s shift. “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” he said. “He knew every aspect of this bill. He never had a problem — until right after he left.”

Trump suggested Musk was suffering from a form of “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” casting his criticism as opportunistic. “People leave my administration, and some of them embrace it, and some of them become hostile. I don’t know what it is. It’s sort of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

The Musk-Trump feud is now threatening to reshape the broader Republican landscape. Musk has openly questioned whether it’s time to form a new centrist political party. “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?” he asked his followers.

More provocatively, Musk has endorsed suggestions that Trump should be impeached and replaced with Ohio Senator J.D. Vance — one of Trump’s most loyal allies turned potential successor. When one user proposed Vance as a replacement, Musk simply replied: “Yes.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon publicly urged him to strip Musk’s companies of all government contracts and launch investigations into Musk personally.

“I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,” Bannon told The New York Times — referencing unfounded conspiracy theories about Musk’s South African birth.

For now, both men appear unwilling to back down. When Trump threatened to terminate government contracts with SpaceX, Musk responded: “Go ahead, make my day,” reposting claims such a move would leave NASA without any way to reach or de-orbit the International Space Station.

What was once a mutually beneficial alliance between a President and the world’s most influential entrepreneur has collapsed into a raw, unscripted political soap opera. Dirty laundry is now aired daily, accusations grow more sensational, and both men — once partners in power — have become locked in a dangerous public feud that neither may be able to contain.

For American politics, it is a rivalry with potentially seismic consequences. For Trump and Musk, things are just heating up.