“VERY DISAPPOINTED”
Trump had initially stayed quiet whereas Musk campaigned to torpedo the Invoice, however broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was “very disenchanted” in Musk.
“Look, Elon and I had a fantastic relationship. I do not know if we’ll anymore,” he mentioned.
The pair then traded barbs on their social media platforms: Trump’s Reality Social and Musk’s X.
“With out me, Trump would have misplaced the election,” wrote Musk, who spent practically US$300 million backing Trump and different Republicans in final yr’s election.
Musk additionally asserted that Trump’s signature import tariffs would push the US right into a recession and responded “Sure” to a publish on X saying Trump must be impeached. That will be extremely unlikely given Trump’s Republicans maintain majorities in each chambers of Congress.
Trump, for his half, advised he would terminate authorities contracts with Musk’s companies, which embrace rocket firm SpaceX and its satellite tv for pc unit Starlink.
Musk, whose house enterprise performs a vital function within the US authorities’s house program, responded that he would start decommissioning SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is the one US spacecraft able to sending astronauts to the Worldwide House Station. He backed off the risk later within the day.
In an indication of a potential detente, Musk subsequently wrote: “You are not unsuitable” in response to billionaire investor Invoice Ackman saying Trump and Musk ought to make peace.
A protracted feud between the pair may make it more durable for Republicans to maintain management of Congress in subsequent yr’s midterm elections if Musk withholds monetary assist or different main Silicon Valley enterprise leaders distance themselves from Trump.
Musk had already mentioned he deliberate to curtail his political spending, and on Tuesday, he known as for “all politicians who betrayed the American individuals” to be fired subsequent yr.
His involvement with the Trump administration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla websites, driving down gross sales whereas buyers fretted that Musk’s consideration was too divided.
