Written by Uriel Vahedy

Elon Musk had been Donald Trump’s ally since Trump’s first term as president. Elon joined the Strategic and Policy Forum, which was an advisory group of business leaders, but left after Trump took the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement. After that, their relationship turned distant until Trump ran for his second term in 2024. At this point, Musk became a prominent supporter of Trump, which contributed to Trump’s victory in the election. A new section of the government called DOGE was created with Musk as the head. This initiative had an aim to modernize information technology, maximize government spending and efficiency, and cut wasteful spending. Although they were former allies, they erupted into a controversial feud. The conflict started after Elon criticized Trump’s tax and spending legislation in public. He explained how the bill expanded the deficit and sliced subsidies for electric vehicles. As Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla, one of the biggest EV manufacturers in the world, Trump’s bill would have a negative effect on Tesla’s future sales. Elon also labeled the bill a “disgusting abomination.” Trump retaliated and threatened to revoke Tesla’s contracts while saying that he would never speak to Musk again. Musk then responded by bringing up Trump’s involvement in the Epstein files, but soon deleted that comment. His support of Trump’s impeachment was the final step that led to his company’s 14 percent drop, which was one of the largest one-day market drops ever. He later showed regret for his comment,s and both men softened their tone in the feud.