Key Points
- US President Donald Trump and former aide Elon Musk have traded barbs as their relationship continues to deteriorate.
- Musk wrapped up his time as a government employee last week after criticising a Republican tax and spending bill.
- The US president has accused Musk of having "Trump derangement syndrome", while Musk has called for impeachment.
United States President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's relationship imploded spectacularly as Trump and his billionaire former aide tore into each other in a very public, real-time divorce.
Trump said in a televised Oval Office diatribe on Friday (AEST) that he was "very disappointed" with criticisms from his top donor of a "big, beautiful" spending bill before Congress, before threatening to tear up the tycoon's multi-billion-dollar US government contracts.
Musk hit back live, saying that the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without him and slamming Trump on his X social media platform for "ingratitude".
As the spat got increasingly bitter, Musk also posted — without evidence — that Trump is "in the Epstein files", referring to unreleased Justice Department documents on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in jail while awaiting trial for sex crimes.
Shares in Musk's Tesla electric vehicle manufacturer plummeted about 15 per cent as the astonishing row escalated — wiping off more than US$100 billion ($153 billion) of the company's value.
Openly feuding with Trump could pose multiple hurdles for Tesla and the rest of Musk's sprawling business empire. The US Transportation Department regulates vehicle design standards and would have a big say in whether Tesla can mass-produce robotaxis without pedals and steering wheels.
The agency is also investigating Tesla's driver-assistance software, known as "Full Self-Driving," following a fatal crash.
Questions had long swirled about how long the extraordinary alliance could last between the world's richest person and its most powerful.
The world got the answer from Trump in a 10-minute rant after he was asked about Musk calling his tax and spending mega-bill a "disgusting abomination".
"I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, as visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz looked on.
"Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore."
His comments came less than a week since Trump held a grand Oval Office farewell for Musk as he wrapped up his time leading the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Elon Musk received a praiseful send-off from Donald Trump last week. Source: AAP / Francis Chung / POOL / EPA
The Republican suggested that Musk had "Trump derangement syndrome," missed working at the White House and had become "hostile" after his departure.
Tesla and Space X boss Musk, who has criticised Trump's bill on the grounds that it would raise the US deficit, hit back in a series of rapid-fire social media posts.
He branded Trump's claims "false" before doubling down on the sensitive issue of Trump's election win. Musk was the biggest donor to Trump's 2024 campaign, spending around US$300 million ($460 million).
"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," said Musk.
"Such ingratitude."
Musk later said on X that Trump should be impeached.
As the row moved to social media, Trump doubled down by threatening Musk's massive government contracts, including for launching rockets and for the use of the Starlink satellite service.
US media have put the value of the contracts at US$18 billion ($27 billion).
"Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, adding that Musk had gone "crazy" about a plan to end electric vehicle subsidies in the spending bill.
He then dropped the bombshell: "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts."
Trump's decision to tap Musk to head DOGE was one of the most controversial of his second presidency. Musk's young "tech bros" cut tens of thousands of government jobs and slashed US foreign aid.
Trump and Musk's whirlwind relationship initially blossomed, with the tech tycoon appearing in the Oval Office with his young son on his shoulders, flying with Trump aboard Air Force One and staying at the White House and Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
But the 53-year-old lasted just four months in the job, becoming increasingly disillusioned with Washington's slow pace, while clashing with some of Trump's cabinet members.
