At one point, it looked like Donald Trump and Elon Musk had a strong alliance, but their relationship has now changed a lot. What was once a successful collaboration between the president and vice president has now become a public battle with many policy disputes, harsh words and major economic issues. It shows the most important events that resulted in the alliance breaking apart.
The Formation of a Strategic Alliance After Trump was re-elected in November 2024, Elon Musk started backing the president with both his funds and ideas. Haslam had considered all of Musk’s contributions and approved how he publicly supported major laws which resulted in his leading appointment as co-founder of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in January 2025. DOGE was focused on making the federal government operate more smoothly, lower spending and fully modernize several agencies. Musk was able to speed up the banning of several departments in order to reduce the budget.
Emerging Tensions Over Fiscal Policies At first everything was peaceful, but by May 2025 new challenges began to arise between them. The central issue was the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” introduced by Trump which was intended to increase the amount the U.S. was borrowing from others. Following his criticism of the bill, Musk noted that it was “disgusting” and warned it could drain funding meant for electric vehicle subsidies and the economy as a whole. After leaving DOGE, Elon Musk started having more disagreements with the other leader.
Public Fallout and Escalating Accusations It heated up into an open disagreement between the parties in early June 2025. On X, Musk commented that Trump could have lost the election because of him, while mentioning certain aspects linked to trump and figures who have been controversial. Trump used the platform Truth Social to refute Musk’s claims and to threaten disconnecting the government from Musk’s businesses. Making accusations and exchanging insults led to the degradation of their relationship.
Economic and Political Repercussions The consequences of the feud showed up right away and could strongly affect people. Tesla’s worth dropped by more than $150 billion and stocks related to Trump Media declined greatly as a result. Lawmakers and people who shape politics had to find their way through the challenges caused by the crisis. The suggestion that Musk may create a new political party made the current situation more complicated before the 2026 midterm elections.