As the week got underway, Donald Trump and Elon Musk were pals. At an Oval Office event, the president sang the praises of his top campaign donor as he officially exited his White House office, and even handed the billionaire a golden key emblazoned with the White House insignia.
A lot can happen in a few days, however.
In a pair of items published to his social media platform on Thursday afternoon, Trump wrote:
Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY! 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!
It was, to be sure, a serious escalation. NBC News reported, “Various estimates have been put forward on just how much Musk’s firms, primarily SpaceX and Tesla, benefit from U.S. government contracts and subsidies. The Washington Post has put the figure at $38 billion, with SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell estimating that company alone benefits from about $22 billion in federal spending. Reuters has reported that the true figure is classified due to the nature of many of the contracts Musk’s firms are under.”
Less than an hour later, the GOP megadonor responded with a remarkable rhetorical volley. “Time to drop the really big bomb: [Trump] is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote on his own platform, X. “That is the real reason they have not been made public.” Referencing the president’s initials, he added, “Have a nice day, DJT!”
Musk later said SpaceX would “begin decommissioning” its Dragon spacecraft “immediately” following Trump’s remarks about his government contracts. Minutes later, he shared a post on X suggesting Trump should be impeached.
The trouble began in earnest on Tuesday, when Musk condemned the Republican Party’s domestic policy megabill, the inaptly named “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” in striking terms, calling the reconciliation package “a disgusting abomination.”
Musk added soon after, apparently referring to lawmakers who voted for the GOP reconciliation package, “In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.” On Wednesday, he went further, launching an online “KILL the BILL” effort.
Those expecting the president to return rhetorical fire with over-the-top online missives of his own were disappointed: Trump, at least initially, didn’t say a word. That changed on Thursday, during an Oval Office event with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“Elon is upset because we took the EV mandate — which was a lot of money for electric vehicles — and they’re having a hard time,” the president said, referring to a “mandate” that does not exist while implying that Musk only opposed the GOP legislation because it’ll affect his car company’s profits.
Trump went on to suggest that Musk lobbied for Jared Isaacman, the former NASA administrator nominee, adding, “I didn’t think it was appropriate.” Of course, that raises the related question of why the president nominated him in the first place if this was inappropriate.
That paved the way for the pièce de résistance: the president suggesting that his former DOGE chief is suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.” Trump suggest that Elon has "Trump derangement syndrome" “Elon and I had a great relationship,” the Republican concluded. “I don’t know if we will anymore.” For his part, the GOP megadonor responded to Trump’s claim that he “knew the inner workings of the bill” as it came together, saying, “False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” He also discounted the idea that the electric vehicle provisions of the package have anything to do with his opposition, before claiming that Trump would’ve lost in 2024 were it not for his massive financial support. “Such ingratitude,” Musk added. There’s no word yet on whether the president will ask for his golden key back.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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