"Brotherhood" breaks down, Trump and Musk stage a century-long feud.

As some predicted, the alliance between the two narcissists will not last long.

On the morning of June 6, Musk dropped an “information bomb” on Twitter, the social platform he bought for $44 billion, to his 220 million followers: “Trump appears in Epstein’s documents, and that’s the reason these documents have not been made public.” This is a list of documents regarding the sexual exploitation of underage girls by super-rich individuals and politicians, as well as the darkest corners of American political figures.

Musk stated that Trump appeared in Epstein’s documents.

This milestone tweet, with over a hundred million views, also witnesses a century-old feud: this pair of former political allies, who once celebrated together, shook hands for photos, and supported each other at the White House gate, ultimately turned into enemies who accuse each other and dredge up old grievances. Their “honeymoon period” only lasted 6 months.

A few months ago, Trump appointed Musk as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), marking the tech giant’s formal entry into the policy-making sphere of the White House. However, as Trump strongly pushed for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the relationship between the two began to deteriorate rapidly.

From “Political Friends” to “Mutual Attacking Netizens”

The earliest cracks may be traced back to three months ago. Although the two maintain a friendly public relationship, those around them have already noticed that their private conflicts are gradually surfacing.

In March 2025, it was reported that Trump refused to show Musk the Pentagon’s attack plans for the war with China, causing Musk’s dissatisfaction. Trump’s former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon believes this is the first rift in their relationship.

Next, in May, Musk pushed the Federal Aviation Administration to adopt its Starlink satellite system for air traffic control, but was rejected due to conflicts of interest and technical issues, further escalating Musk’s dissatisfaction with the Trump administration. At the same time, Musk’s large-scale layoffs and institutional closure plans regarding DOGE also sparked strong discontent among cabinet members.

At the end of May, Trump vetoed the nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman as NASA director, which Musk saw as “the final insult.”

On June 1, Musk publicly expressed his dissatisfaction for the first time during an interview, stating that the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) he leads has become a scapegoat, with all negative public opinion related to layoffs and budget cuts being shifted onto him. He stated that although he had firmly supported Trump, he felt deeply frustrated with the “Beautiful Law”, believing that this legislation is undermining the reform achievements of the DOGE team over the past few months.

Then, on June 3, Musk made an official attack on the X platform (formerly Twitter). He called the bill a “huge, ridiculous, and disgusting deformed product” that would not only increase the U.S. fiscal deficit by $2.4 trillion, but also eliminate tax credits for electric vehicles and clean energy, making it almost a head-on shock to new energy companies like Tesla. He pointed out that the government has greatly expanded military and infrastructure spending at the expense of key policy support for the new energy industry, which is contrary to what he understands as “efficiency reform”.

Then, Musk’s criticism escalated further. He pointed out that “excessive spending will make the United States a debt slave”, and bluntly said that “Congress is bankrupting the United States”. Quoting Trump’s old tweets criticizing the debt ceiling in the past, he sarcastically asked, “Are the people who said that back then still today?” Has he been replaced by a stand-in?" Subsequently, he even launched a poll on whether it was time to form a new party that truly represented the “middle 80 percent” of the United States. This series of actions has clearly gone beyond the scope of policy differences, but directly challenges Trump’s Republican leadership in terms of political positions.

Trump’s response was also very clear. On June 5, he posted multiple times, calling Musk “annoying to me,” “he has gone crazy,” and mocking his criticism of the bill as simply due to the cancellation of electric vehicle subsidies. He accused Musk of knowing about the bill “months ago,” yet now turning against it was purely “ungrateful.” Trump further threatened that the simplest way to save the budget would be to terminate all contracts and subsidies between Musk’s companies, such as Tesla, SpaceX, and Starlink, and the government, which would save the treasury “tens of billions of dollars.”

Musk swiftly countered, stating: “Without me, Trump wouldn’t be able to win the election at all.” He expressed that it was his support during the 2024 election period that allowed the Republican Party to maintain a majority in the Senate; otherwise, the Democrats would have already fully taken over Congress.

Elon Musk even hinted further that if Trump continues to sabotage the renewable energy sector and technology companies, he would not hesitate to push for the establishment of a new political party to compete with him.

On the same day, the U.S. stock market also felt the tremors of this conflict. Tesla’s stock price plummeted more than 14% during the session, with a market value evaporating by 150 billion dollars. Investors are concerned that Trump might actually use his presidential power to cut off the government’s resource channels to Musk’s business empire, including policy support for Tesla, government contracts, and even SpaceX’s space projects.

However, the most impactful breakout point occurred on June 6. In the morning, Musk dropped a “nuclear-level” tweet on the X platform, deciding to rupture this political relationship in the most intense and extreme way: “Trump appears in the Epstein documents, and that is the reason these documents have not been made public for so long.”

This was the most damaging blow in the entire dispute. The social media platform was flooded overnight with “Trump-Epstein,” and Musk’s tweet was retweeted millions of times. Then, Musk retweeted a popular tweet calling for “the impeachment of Trump, with JD Vance taking over as president.”

In the face of such fierce attacks, Trump still chose to return to his strong suit—promoting policies. He once again claimed that the “Beautiful Healthcare Act” is the “greatest tax cut and spending reduction bill in American history,” and if the bill does not pass, “American taxes will increase by 68%.” He added, “I don’t care if Musk opposes me.”

The dispute ignited from the spending bill, but ultimately spread to election credits, business contracts, federal subsidies, and even historical documents involving sexual scandals. Just looking at today’s “century-long feud,” who would have thought that these two political allies were once so close as to “tie the same tie.”

Before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Musk invested $259 million, mobilizing all resources in Silicon Valley, along with his personal influence to endorse Trump.

Musk said his love for Trump is “the greatest love a straight man can give another man”

During the joint congressional address by Trump, the tie worn by Musk was borrowed from Trump.

At Trump’s third cabinet meeting, Musk wore a red hat that said “Trump can do no wrong,” but unfortunately, he probably won’t wear it again.

In return, when Musk was under attack, Trump held a 30-minute press conference for him on the White House driveway, test-driving five different types and colors of Tesla cars.

“That’s the one I like,” Trump said, pointing at a bright red Model S priced at about $80,000, and claimed he would write an $80,000 check to buy it outright. At that time, Trump also called Musk an absolute “patriot,” adding, “He has never made any requests of me.”

After Trump confirmed his victory, the Trump family returned to the White House and took a group photo at the entrance. Trump eagerly called Musk to join them for the family portrait, which can be described as a scene of the “Winners’ Alliance.”

During this period, the two were still close comrades committed to advancing reforms. Trump needed a “sharp knife” to expand his territory, while Musk needed a platform to realize his political ambitions. The two were highly aligned in their goals and interests.

Until the emergence of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Why does Musk hate the “Beautiful Big Law”?

The “Beautiful Big Act” is ostensibly a comprehensive budget and policy bill crafted by the Trump administration to “Make America Great Again,” but in reality, it is a sweeping financial reconstruction effort.

This bill not only aims to continue and expand the tax reduction policies from Trump’s tenure in 2017 and promote cuts to federal spending, but also carries a strong political and ideological tone—it eliminates all “green” policy resources, completely deviating from the consensus the U.S. has reached in recent years regarding new energy, environmental protection, and technological innovation.

And this is exactly the part that Musk hates the most.

Musk’s initial anger stemmed from the cancellation of the electric vehicle tax credit. This policy has been a crucial pillar for Tesla to maintain competitiveness in domestic sales in the United States. The new bill eliminates the maximum $7,500 tax credit for consumers purchasing electric vehicles, directly undermining Tesla’s price attractiveness.

However, what made Musk furious was another provision in the bill: the cancellation of the carbon credits system — which is not a weakening for Tesla, but a fatal blow.

For a long time, Tesla has not only relied on car sales for profit; its true secret weapon for profitability is carbon credits. According to current U.S. policies, every time Tesla produces and sells a zero-emission electric vehicle, it earns a carbon emission credit. Traditional automakers that produce fuel vehicles and exceed emission limits (such as General Motors, Chrysler, etc.) must purchase these credits from Tesla to meet the government’s annual emission compliance requirements. These credits can be described as a “money printing machine under policy,” continuously supplying cash to Tesla.

In the first quarter of 2025, Tesla generated $595 million in revenue solely from the sale of these carbon credits, while the net profit during the same period was only $409 million. In other words, without these “green credits”, the surplus figure on Tesla’s financial statement would directly flip, showing a loss.

Moreover, this is not a short-term phenomenon; it will be the case throughout 2024. The operation of Tesla’s vehicles is at a loss, yet investors are “comforted” by the appearance of overall profitability. The biggest buffer in this is carbon credits.

Therefore, when the “Beautiful Big Act” decided to cut off this mechanism, Musk was effectively cut off from his lifeline, making it difficult for him to continue to “hide” the losses of the main business in the financial reports.

Once this implicit support is lost, Tesla will directly drop off the list of “the most profitable car companies”—and most of Musk’s wealth is strongly tied to his share value in Tesla, which could also lead to a collapse in Musk’s net worth.

For Trump, Musk paid 100 billion dollars

For Musk, he has already paid enough.

First, Musk is the largest individual political donor in the 2024 U.S. election, donating approximately $288 million to Trump and the Republican candidates he supports.

The larger loss came from the evaporation of Tesla’s market value. On June 6, Musk’s public argument with Trump caused Tesla’s stock price to plummet by 14.3%, resulting in a market value loss of about $150 billion.

A report on June 1st of this year showed that Musk’s net worth is $383.6 billion, with approximately 13% of his holdings in Tesla. Therefore, out of the $150 billion market value loss, Musk’s direct loss is about $19.5 billion.

Currently, Musk’s net worth is estimated at $364.1 billion, compared to $486 billion on December 30, 2024. Musk has already paid over $100 billion for “this president he helped elevate.”

In addition to money, Musk has also sacrificed other things for Trump, such as Musk laying off federal employees from government agencies on a large scale during his work with DOGE, which offended quite a few people.

This has led to a wave of vandalism against Tesla cars, intimidation of owners, and protests against dealerships across the country. Tesla factories have faced peaceful demonstrations and acts of vandalism, including charging stations catching fire. There has also been a surge in vandalism against Cybertrucks across the U.S., with some owners even spray-painting their own Tesla vehicles in protest against Musk.

Musk has also stated multiple times that running his own business is “very difficult,” and Tesla’s stock price has experienced the most severe drop in five years.

Outside of Tesla, Musk’s other major business empire - SpaceX - has also not been able to stay out of it. Although this space technology company has indeed secured a large number of NASA contracts in recent years, becoming a new mainstay of the American space program.

However, some hawkish politicians have hinted that if Musk continues to openly challenge national policies and even incites division within the party, the topic of whether “SpaceX should be nationalized” will no longer be just a joke.

This is also why Musk is so vehemently opposed to this bill.

Elon Musk, who has paid such a high price, has launched a full-scale counterattack, not only blasting the bill “Bankrupting America,” but also mocking its contradictions by quoting Trump’s past remarks on social media. He even supports “impeaching Trump, with JD Vance taking over.” More shockingly, he publicly threw out the accusation of “Trump’s name” from the Epstein documents, officially moving this confrontation from the financial battlefield into the realm of morality and public opinion.

This “Beautiful Big Law” has blatantly become the “divorce agreement” of a political marriage between the two.