U.S. President Donald Trump and his ex-ally, billionaire business mogul Elon Musk, had a fiery falling out yesterday as the two men lobbed insults, accusations and threats at each other from their respective social media platforms.
Their relationship fractured as Trump pushed to pass his “One Big Beautiful Bill” – the 1,116-page act of proposed tax cuts, Medicaid restrictions, border wall funding and money for the Golden Dome that would spike national deficits by US$2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to one estimate that the White House contests.
Musk, one of Trump’s chief advocates for cost cutting, had criticized the legislation, arguing that a bill could not be big and beautiful at once. Their disagreement exploded on Thursday, descending into an open-air brawl waged online.
Russia responds with jokes, jibes and job offers
The feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk provoked chatter, mockery and amusement among the ruling class in Moscow, where one senior official joked about hosting peace talks and another said Musk should bring his businesses to Russia.
“Elon, don’t be upset!” nationalist senator Dmitry Rogozin, who once ran Russia’s space program, wrote on Musk’s X social media site. “If you encounter insurmountable problems in the U.S., come to us. Here you will find reliable comrades and complete freedom of technical creativity.”
Dmitry Medvedev, a senior security official and former president, posted: “We are ready to facilitate the conclusion of a peace deal between D and E for a reasonable fee and to accept Starlink shares as payment. Don’t fight, guys!”
The public feud between the U.S. president and the world’s richest man was an easy target for Russian politicians who have a history of gloating over perceived turmoil in Washington.
Margarita Simonyan, one of Russia’s most powerful state media executives, mocked it as an example of “modern U.S. political culture” -- “Sort of like the English Industrial Revolution. Only in reverse.”
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, who has in the past tried to interest Musk in cooperating with Russia on flights to Mars, asked on X: “Why can’t we all just get along?” He then asked Grok, X’s AI chatbot, how Musk and Trump could reconcile.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked about the clash, said it was an internal matter for the U.S., though he was confident that Trump would handle it.
“Presidents handle a huge number of different things at the same time, some more and some less important,” Peskov said.
Others saw clear benefit for Russia from the feud distracting Washington.
“We can just be glad that they won’t have time for us,” said Konstantin Malofeyev, a hardline nationalist tycoon, who said it was now “the best time to strike back” against Ukraine.
Reuters
Trump not interested in talking to Musk
Trump is not interested in talking with his former ally Musk amid a bitter feud over the president’s sweeping tax-cut bill, a White House official said on Friday, adding that no phone call between the two men is planned for the day.
A separate White House official had said earlier that Trump and Musk planned to talk to each other on Friday.
“I’m not even thinking about Elon. He’s got a problem, the poor guy’s got a problem,” Trump told CNN on Friday morning.
Shares in Musk’s Tesla rose 4.5 per cent when markets opened on Friday. In Thursday’s session, the stock dived 14 per cent and lost about US$150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the electric vehicle maker’s history.
Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump’s presidential campaign and was then brought to the White House to head up a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending.
Reuters. Read the full story here.
Musk pulls back on threat to withdraw Dragon spacecraft
As Trump and Musk argued on social media, the world’s richest man threatened to decommission a space capsule used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station.
A few hours later, Musk said he wouldn’t follow through on the threat.
After Trump threatened to cut government contracts given to Musk’s SpaceX rocket company and his Starlink internet satellite services, Musk responded via X that SpaceX “will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.”
It was unclear how serious Musk’s threat was, but several hours later – in a reply to another X user – he said he wouldn’t do it.
The capsule, developed with the help of government contracts, is an important part of keeping the space station running. NASA also relies heavily on SpaceX for other programs including launching science missions and, later this decade, returning astronauts to the surface of the moon.
SpaceX is the only U.S. company capable right now of transporting crews to and from the space station, using its four-person Dragon capsules.
The Associated Press. Read the full story here.
Tesla shares claw back
Tesla shares clawed back from steep losses as a war of words between CEO Musk and U.S. President Trump appeared to cool, easing investor worries about the likely political fallout on the electric automaker.
Shares rose about five per cent in early trading. Politico had reported Musk and Trump were expected to speak on Friday, but a White House official told Reuters there were no plans for a call.
Musk signalled on his X social media platform he was open to easing tensions with Trump, agreeing with comments from hedge fund manager Bill Ackman calling for a detente.
The spat between the world’s most powerful man and its richest erased more than US$150 billion from Tesla’s market value on Thursday, the company’s biggest drop in one session.
Reuters. Read the full story here.
