You can call it Donald Trump vs Elon Musk round two, but no one knows what the real score is.
A day after the US President threatened to deport the world’s richest man and revoke federal support for the tech billionaire’s companies, the South African-origin mogul backed out from escalation, but not without making his displeasure known.
“So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now,” Musk posted on X, his social media platform, responding to a video of Trump warning him to “shut shop” and “go back home” amid growing tensions over the President’s flagship “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
The latest round in their rapidly deteriorating relationship, once a mutually beneficial alliance, is now unfolding in full public view.
On Wednesday however, Musk praised Trump for his reported success on the world stage.
Posting a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social announcement that Israel had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, Musk wrote: “Credit where credit is due.” He added that the President “has successfully resolved several serious conflicts around the world.”
The move stunned observers who had watched Musk threaten political retaliation just hours earlier.
Musk’s frustration
Musk, who served in Trump’s second administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), had been the President’s top donor in the 2024 election. But since exiting DOGE in May, he has grown increasingly vocal against Trump’s economic agenda, particularly the sweeping tax-cut and spending package narrowly passed by the Senate on Tuesday.
Musk’s frustration is seen as linked to the bill’s removal of the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles, a popular incentive that Musk argues is critical to supporting clean-energy innovation and job creation.
“Political suicide for the Republican Party,” Musk called the bill in a post on X over the weekend.
He warned that the legislation would “kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries,” and went further to say he would actively work to unseat lawmakers who supported it:
“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame,” Musk wrote.
Later, he floated the idea of launching a new political party.
“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Musk declared. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”
BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!
Trump was quick to strike back, using his Truth Social platform to mock Musk’s reliance on government subsidies.
“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump wrote.
The US President didn’t stop there. “No more rocket launches, satellites, or electric car production, and our country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
Later that day, standing on the White House lawn before flying to Florida, Trump doubled down. “He’s very upset. You know, he can lose a lot more than that, I’ll tell you right now,” he said, referring to Musk. “DOGE could be the monster that turns around and eats Elon.”
The fragile truce
The fragile truce../if it can be called that leaves the Musk-Trump alliance on edge. No one really knows what happens next.
For now, Musk has said he will “refrain.”