Trump and Musk enter a bitter feud

What happens when the richest person and the most powerful politician have a knockout fight?

The world may be about to understand.

The disagreement between Elon Musk and Donald Trump began on Simmer last week, began bubbling on Wednesday and is now in full boiling. And like everything these two men do, the implosion of their relationship spills in public opinion. Trump and Musk have two of the biggest megafons in the world and now turned them over to each other.

In the remarks in the oval office on Thursday afternoon, Trump sounded a bit like a tied lover.

He expressed a surprise from Musk’s criticism of his “big, beautiful” tax and cost legislation. He back against the idea that he would lose last year’s presidential election without hundreds of millions of dollars in support. And he said that Musk is now changing his tune because his car company Tesla will be hurt by the republican impetus for termination of tax loans for electric vehicles.

Musk went to his social media site, X, with many generation X’s response for its 220 million followers: “Whatever it is.” He said he was not interested in car subsidies, he wanted to shrink national debt, which he said was an existential threat to the nation. He insisted that the Democrats would prevail last year without his help. “Such an ungratefulness,” he told Trump.

The billionaire has started a series of unusual attacks throughout the afternoon, including Offering without evidence that Trump appears in unpublished files related to the late sex disorder Jeffrey EpsteinS The White House rejected this last comment “Unhappy Elon episode”.

Musk and Trump had formed a powerful but unlikely union that ended with the technology billionaire, having a key position of the budget authority in the Trump administration. The Ministry of Government Efficiency of Musk or Dog has become one of the largest stories of Trump’s first 100 days, as it closed entire agencies and rejected thousands of state workers.

However, it was not long before speculation began when – and how – the two oversized personalities would eventually fall out.

Some time it seemed that these forecasts were out of the sign. Trump stood by Musk, even when the latter’s popularity dropped, as he broke out with administration officials and as he became responsible in several key elections earlier this year. Every time there will be a break, Musk would pop out into the oval office, or in the office or in the president’s Air Force, a flight to Mar-A-Lago.

When Musk’s 130 days as a “special government official” ended last week, the two had a championship to an office, with a gold key to the White House and suggests that Musk could return someday.

It is safe to say that each invitation has been canceled and the locks have been changed.

“Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump said on Thursday – a comment remarkable for the use of the past tense.

It was believed that Trump’s surprise on Wednesday night a new ban on travel, additional sanctions on Harvard, and an investigation into a conspiracy administration, are all efforts to change the topic of Musk’s criticism. The White House and its allies in Congress seemed careful not to antagonize it further after its more comments.

Then Trump spoke and … so much about that.

Now the question is where the dispute is next. Congress Republicans could make it difficult to keep their members behind Trump’s bill with Musk, providing rhetorical – and, perhaps financial – for those who break ranks.

Trump, who is proud of being a devastating counterpoint, will have many opportunities to lie in Musk. What will happen to the allies of Musk’s Doge, who still in the Trump administration or government contracts of Musk companies or investigations from the Biden era, in Musk’s business relationship?

“The easiest way to save money on our budget, billions and billions of dollars is to terminate your government subsidies and contracts by Elon,” Trump has been threatening on his social media website.

If Trump turns the government’s machine against Musk, the technological billionaire will feel pain. The price of Tesla shares is immersed by 14% on Thursday.

But Musk also has almost boundless response resources, including through the financing of Republicans’ rebels in elections and primers for next year. He may not win the fight against the entire Trump government, but he could set a high political price.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are on the sidelines, wondering how to answer. Few seem ready to welcome Musk, a former donor of their party, back into the basket. But there is also an old saying that the enemy of an enemy is a friend.

“It’s a zero -sum game,” Liam Kerr, a democratic strategist, told Politico. “Everything he does is moving more to the Democrats, the Republicans hurts.”

The slightest Democrats seem to be happy to step back and let the two men exchange blows. And until they give up this match, DIN is likely to silence everything else in American politics.

But don’t expect this to end soon.

“Trump has been left for 3.5 years as president,” writes Musk to X, “But I will be about 40 years old.”