Only a few months ago, Elon Musk took to his social media platform X to share a confession with his 220 million followers: ‘I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man,’ he wrote. This week, Musk and the sitting president had such a violent public breakup that it sent Tesla stock crashing by 17 per cent.
The drama, which rivaled a Real Housewives season finale, finally exploded when the President threatened to pull Musk’s billions in federal contracts. Musk returned the favour by claiming Trump hasn’t released the ‘Epstein files’ because he’s implicated in them.
It was an eruption that most political observers had, from the start, deemed inevitable. But what was shocking was the scale and the speed at which the two thinnest-skinned men on the planet went from ‘President and First Buddy’ to mortal enemies.
Musk now has bigger problems than the tax credit
The biggest twist in this sordid drama is why the pair originally fell out: disagreement over a reconciliation bill that is going to increase both the national debt and the deficit.

Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in