A war of words between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump broke out in a complete collapse on Thursday, with Musk hitting Trump for “ingratitude” during the 2024 elections, according to a call to his political trial, criticizing the exclusive legislation of the president and even claiming that Trump was in the Epstein archives.
Trump, speaking on television from the Oval office, had said that he was “disappointed” in Musk after his criticism on Wednesday for his “big and beautiful” megabill to finance his agenda, and then participated in a mutual flood of publications on social networks, at one time saying that Musk had turned “crazy.”
As the exchanges grew progressively personal, Musk published, without providing evidence, about Trump and the alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, “it’s time to launch the great bomb: @realdonaldtrump is in Epstein’s archives. That is the true reason why they have not been made public. Had a good day, DJT!”
He followed him with another publication, saying: “Mark this publication for the future. The truth will come out.”
Trump previously published: “I was never on the Epstein plane, or on its ‘stupid’ island, and has not publicly opposed the release of the archives now under the review of the Department of Justice.
Trump’s previous association with Epstein and the appearance of its name in a address notebook and in the flight records of Epstein aircraft has been widely informed.
Epstein died from suicide in his prison cell in 2019.
The public gap between Musk and Trump seriously began with Musk’s uproar against the president’s domestic megabill. Musk costs the price of the invoice and its estimated impact on national debt.
Speaking to the White House journalists on Thursday, Trump backed Musk in extensive comments.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we’ll do it,” Trump said.
Elon Musk attends a press conference at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on May 30, 2025 and President Donald Trump during a press conference at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on May 30, 2025.
Francis Chung/EPA-EFE/Shuttersock
Musk responded in real time to Trump’s personal comments on X, sliding the legislation already directly.
At one point, Musk responded to a user: “Without me, Trump would have lost the elections, the Democrats would control the camera and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”
“Such ingratitude,” Musk added. Musk spent more than $ 270 million to support Trump and other Republicans during the 2024 electoral cycle.
Later, he published a comment that requested that Trump’s accusation was replaced by Vice President JD Vance. “Yes,” Musk wrote in response to the idea.
The round trip only intensified as the day progressed.
Trump responded on his own conservative social networks platform: “Elon was” using Delgado “, I asked him to leave, I removed his EV mandate that forced everyone to buy electric cars that nobody else wanted (who knew for months what he was going to do!), And he went crazy!”
Trump said the “easier way to save money” would be “to finish Elon’s subsidies and government contracts.”
Musk went on to criticize not only Trump’s bill but also its tariff policy: an cornerstone of the president’s economic agenda and a political objective of decades. He affirmed in X that the tariffs would cause a “recession in the second half of this year.”
Musk and Trump had not spoken until Thursday morning, according to two sources familiar with the president’s conversations.
Multiple administration officials have tried to communicate with Musk and their representatives personally, but their calls and text messages have not been returned, several sources tell ABC News.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, at the Oval Office of the White House, on June 5, 2025, in Washington.
EVAN VUCCI/AP
The “Law of a Big Big Beauty bill” approved the camera last month for a single vote. The measure would extend Trump’s tax cuts in 2017 and increase spending for military and border security, while making some cuts to Medicaid, Snap and other assistance programs.
Now faces winds against the Senate, specifically among a small group of republican fiscal hawks.
Musk has said that the legislation, estimated by the non -partisan budget office to add $ 3 billion to the deficit during the next decade, would undermine the objective of the government’s efficiency department to reduce government spending and reject the nation’s debt.
“Where is this guy today?” Musk wrote while reupcing another compilation user of Trump’s past tweets criticized high deficits, unbalanced budgets and more.
Musk made similar comments on X towards the leader of the majority of the Senate John Thune and the president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson.
Trump held on Thursday that Musk, the Tesla CEO, was really “annoying” because the legislation would eliminate tax credits for electric vehicles.
Before speaking publicly against the bill, Musk personally pressed some legislators, including President Johnson, to keep the tax credits of electric vehicles in the bill, according to two persons familiar with conversations.
“I am very disappointed because Elon knew the internal functioning of this bill better than almost any person sitting here, better than you,” Trump said in the Oval office on Thursday. “I knew everything about it. I had no problem with that. Suddenly, I had a problem.”
Musk went back to X and suggested that Trump was not telling the truth.
“False, this bill never showed me once and was approved on the night of the night so fast that almost no one in Congress could read it!” He wrote.
Elon Musk attends a press conference with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, on May 30, 2025.
Allison Robbert/AFP through Getty Images
In another publication, Musk wrote: “Whatever.”
“In the entire history of civilization, there have never been legislation that is great and beautiful,” added Musk. “Everyone knows this! Or you get a large and ugly invoice or a thin and beautiful invoice. Slim and beautiful is the way.”
From now on, the Tesla that President Trump bought to show support from Elon Musk is still in the White House complex, according to two sources.
The White House declined to comment. A Musk representative has not yet returned the request for comments.
