How do Trump and Musk intertwine even though they fall out

Although observers have long speculated that Donald Trump and Elon Musk will eventually fall out, few have predicted the speed and fierceness with which their feud in social media broke out.

As Musk promised his full support for the president after an attempt to kill in Pennsylvania less than a year ago, the political and business interests of the two men are becoming more intertwined.

In several key areas – including political funding, government treaties and their personal relations – the two men relied on each other, which means that the termination of the Union is likely to be scattered.

This complicates the fall out of their break and ensures that wherever the order goes from here, they will continue to be connected – and will have the potential to be injured in several ways.

In the last year, Musk’s donations to Trump and other Republicans have been huge – for a total value of $ 290 million (214 million pounds) according to Campaign Financing Site Open SecretsS

Musk claims on Thursday that the president won the election for him and complained about “ungratefulness”.

There is an obvious counter -example. Earlier this year, Musk threw $ 20 million in a key judicial race in Wisconsin, but his republican candidate losses 10 percentage points in State Trump won last November.

However, Musk’s donations are a huge part of the money that Republicans will miss as they try to hold their advantage in the congress of the intermediate elections in November 2026.

It can be a problem that they face in any case. Earlier, Musk said it would contribute to “much smaller” in campaigns in the future.

But can the White House destruction prompt Musk not only withdraw, but throw his money behind Trump’s opposition?

He hinted as such on Thursday when he posted a survey of X with the question: “Is it time to create a new political party in America, which actually represents 80% in the middle?”

Musk companies, including SpaceX, its subsidiary Starlink and Tesla, are doing a huge amount of business with the US government.

Only spacex has been awarded $ 20.9 billion ($ 16.3 billion) in US government treaties since 2008According to BBC Cerify analysis.

Trump realizes that this gives him a lever over the largest man in the world.

He posted to the Truth Social on Thursday: “The easiest way to save money on our budget, billions and billions of dollars is to terminate the government subsidies and contracts by Elon. I was always surprised that Biden did not!”

Musk has threatened to avenge by repelling the Dragon of SpaceX, which astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. But later he gave way to this threat.

In practice, the cancellation or withdrawal of state treaties would be a complex and long legal process and for a while, and for some time, the US government will probably continue to do a significant part of the Musk companies.

No other company other than SpaceX can make Dragon and Falcon 9 missiles, and NASA is engaged in a number of space station and moon missions using SpaceX Craft.

Despite these trading partnerships, Musk and its companies are also facing investigations by a number of government agencies – more than 30, according to a February report by The New York Times – and regulatory issues, such as approval for the proposed Tesla taxis.

When Musk was tasked with establishing the Ministry of the Government of the Government (Doge) as one of the key engines of Trump’s change in the US federal government, he was widely covered to choose his own staff.

According to expiring Doge employees, many have previously worked for Musk companies. And although Musk left Dog a week ago, many staff remain in their public jobs.

Some Doge employees also have deep ties to Trump’s camp. Katie Miller – who works in Trump’s first administration and is married to the current White House Deputy Chief Stephen Miller – was a Dog spokesman.

CNN, however, announced that G -ja Miller also left the government last week and is now working “full -time” for Musk.

There are others in the Trump administration whose loyalty can be tested by enmity. David Sachs, who Trump defined as his chief advisor on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, is close to Musk, working with a tycoon decades ago in Paypal.

The X Many Silicon Valley leaders, along with the influential of the Mag-Wuird, choose countries and analyze each of the messages back and forth published by the president and the richest man in the world.

Electoral Company Yougov Conducted a SNAP survey on Thursday Asking the people who they would stand up to. The results show that 70% of the Republican respondents said Trump, compared to less than 1 to 10, chose Musk.