*As Trump, Musk trade words over tax-cut bill
Elon Musk speaks as US President Donald Trump looks on in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2025. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead federal cost-cutting efforts, said the United States would go “bankrupt” without budget cuts. Musk leads the efforts under the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and was speaking at the White House with Trump, who has in recent weeks unleashed a flurry of orders aimed at slashing federal spending. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
United States President Donald Trump, on Thursday, June 5, 2025, lashed out at his ally Elon Musk, saying he was “disappointed” by the billionaire’s public opposition to the sweeping tax-cut and spending bill that is at the heart of the president’s agenda.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said in the Oval Office, in his first direct response to Musk’s criticism.
“He said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn’t said bad about me personally, but I’m sure that’ll be next. But I’m, I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot,” the president.
As Trump was speaking, Tesla CEO Musk unleashed a series of critical responses on X, the social media site he owns.
He wrote: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election.
“Such ingratitude.”
Shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla were down 9% following the outbursts, to their lowest level since late February.
The back-and-forth made it clear tensions had reached a boiling point between the world’s most powerful man and the world’s richest man, after weeks of speculation that they were headed for a clash of egos.
Musk, whose other companies include rocket company and government contractor SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink, spent nearly $300 million in the 2024 election in support of Trump and other Republican candidates.
Starting on Tuesday, the tech executive unleashed a series of blistering attacks against what Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill”.
Musk called the bill a “disgusting abomination” that would deepen the federal deficit, amplifying a rift within the Republican Party that could threaten the bill’s prospects in the Senate.
“False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” Musk wrote on X on Thursday.
