Trump vs Musk: What began as a close political alliance has erupted into a bitter war of words. US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk clashed publicly on Thursday, exchanging sharp personal attacks after Musk criticised Trump’s flagship domestic policy bill. The once-collaborative relationship between the two powerful figures is now in ruins. This comes days after Musk stepped doen as DOGE head.

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What Musk said? 

Elon Musk, once a prominent informal adviser to Trump, launched a series of attacks on X (formerly Twitter). Targeting both congressional Republicans and Trump, Musk accused the former president of “ingratitude” and claimed personal credit for Trump’s 2020 electoral performance. “Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” Musk tweeted. He further asserted that Democrats would have retained the House and gained a stronger Senate majority if not for his support.

Trump said…

While expressing disappointment over Elon Musk’s criticism of his tax policy bill, US President Donald Trump says, “Elon endorsed me very strongly. He actually went up and campaigned for me. I would have won Pennsylvania easily anyway… I’m very disappointed because Elon knew this (tax) bill better than anyone. And, all of a sudden, he developed a problem and he only developed a problem when he found out I would cut the EV mandate… When he left he said the most beautiful things about me, he hasn’t said anything bad yet but I’m sure that will be next… I’ve helped Elon a lot.”

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What we know about Musk-Trump fallout

In a pointed rebuttal, Musk reposted a video clip where Trump praises Musk’s knowledge of the controversial ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ bill. Musk called the claim “false,” stating the bill “was never shown to me even once” and passed too quickly for most lawmakers to even read it. He also claimed that the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will increase US fiscal deficit to $2.5 trillion.