Elon Musk unleashed a fresh round of tweets late Thursday afternoon, calling for President Trump’s impeachment and declaring that SpaceX would begin decommissioning a spacecraft essential to NASA’s operation — though he later backtracked on this threat.
Why it matters: Trump’s threat to cancel billions of dollars of government contracts with Musk’s companies has ignited a new round of escalation in the explosive civil war between the two former allies.
Driving the news: “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk wrote on X.
- The U.S. has relied on the Dragon spacecraft, both crewed and cargo versions, for years to keep the International Space Station supplied and operating. Shutting them down would leave the ISS reliant on Russia.
The intrigue: Ian Miles Cheong, a prominent Musk supporter and right-wing activist on X, tweeted: “President vs Elon. Who wins? My money’s on Elon. Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him.”
- Musk responded to Cheong: “Yes.”
- When another follower suggested they could finally be honest about the stupidity of Trump’s tariffs, Musk posted: “The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year.”
- When another X user on Thursday night called the back and forth between Musk and Trump “a shame” and suggested they cool off and “take a step back for a couple days,” Musk responded: “Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, also spent much of the afternoon tweeting about Trump’s alleged ties to notorious sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
- “Time to drop the really big bomb: Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk posted.
The big picture: The stunning collapse of the relationship was ostensibly triggered by Musk’s scathing criticism of Trump’s signature bill, which is projected to add trillions to the national debt.
- Trump suggested that the Tesla CEO was upset about the rollback of electric vehicle credits, and that he — like other disgruntled former officials — was suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
- That’s when Musk set the feud on fire — unleashing dozens of tweets highlighting the GOP’s hypocrisy on deficits, claiming Trump would have lost in 2024 without him, and floating a new political party.
What to watch: The MAGA coalition is now under massive pressure to pick sides, splintering after six months of a mostly harmonious relationship between the president and the world’s richest man.
- Steve Bannon, a prominent MAGA voice who has long despised Musk, called for the South African-born billionaire to be deported in an interview with the New York Times (Courtesy: Axios)
