Donald Trump Issues Threat to Elon Musk. Musk Fires Back

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the “easiest way” for the government to save money would be to “terminate” contracts and subsidies going to billionaire Elon Musk, amid an escalating war of words between the commander-in-chief and the world’s wealthiest man.

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!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“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 president wrote in another post.

Why It Matters
A growing division has emerged between Musk and Trump since the former left the White House at the end of May, with the president saying Thursday that he was disappointed in his former ally’s negativity toward his budget reconciliation bill, which now sits with the Senate.

What To Know
Musk, who previously led Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), fired back at the president on X, formerly Twitter: “Such an obvious lie. So sad.”

Minutes later, Musk escalated the feud by writing: “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”

Musk followed that with a second post: “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”

The increasingly personal feud began earlier in the week after Musk publicly criticized Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which would extend tax cuts, overhaul immigration enforcement, and repeal consumer incentives for electric vehicles. Musk derided the legislation as a “disgusting abomination” that would add trillions to the federal debt.

At a White House press event on Thursday, Trump said he was “very disappointed in Elon” and suggested that Musk’s opposition stemmed from losing influence over federal policy.

He knew every aspect of this bill…and he never had a problem until right after he left,” Trump said.

Musk denied ever seeing the legislation before it was introduced and has insisted Trump is retaliating for his public criticism.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” Musk said in an earlier post. “Such ingratitude.”

What People Are Saying
Representative Warren Davidson, an Ohio Republican, took note of Musk’s comments on social media last week, saying on X: “Hopefully, the Senate will succeed with the Big Beautiful Bill where the House missed the moment. Don’t hope someone else will cut deficits someday, know it has been done this Congress.”

Elon Musk, on X: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude.”

What Happens Next
The bill’s prospects in the Senate are uncertain. Speaker Mike Johnson, who negotiated it through the House, said on Thursday that he hoped to speak directly with Musk. “He seems pretty dug in right now, and I can’t quite understand the motivation behind it,” Johnson said.

Now, with Musk moving from fiscal criticism to incendiary personal allegations, the feud has morphed from a policy dispute into a full-blown political spectacle.