Elon Musk just watched $27 billion vanish from his net worth after his public clash with President Donald Trump blew up into a full-on political war.
The fight dragged Elon’s name through the mud on Capitol Hill, sent Tesla stock crashing, and exposed just how fast Republican loyalty can disappear.
Despite still holding onto the top spot on the Forbes Real Time Billionaires List with around $388 billion, Elon walked away from this one weaker, isolated, and bleeding cash.
The blow-up happened after Elon bashed Trump’s massive tax-and-spending bill, calling it a fiscal nightmare. What came next was a brutal wave of GOP backlash. Trump hit back immediately. Elon said Trump should be removed from office.
Trump fired back again and threatened to cancel his government contracts. Elon tried claiming he helped Trump win in 2024, possibly by rigging it for him.
Republicans rally around Trump and cut Elon loose
According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, Troy Nehls, a Republican from Texas and longtime Trump supporter, told reporters on the Capitol steps, “You’ve lost your damn mind.” He stared straight into the cameras and followed up with, “Enough is enough. Stop this.”
Trump’s tax bill, which had passed the House by just one vote and is now being reviewed in the Senate, was the center of it all. Elon called the bill “abhorrent” and accused it of wrecking the budget. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise from Louisiana said, “He hasn’t moved a vote,” when asked about Elon’s impact.
Tim Burchett, Republican from Tennessee, wasn’t impressed either. “He’s going off the deep end,” he said, reacting to Elon’s call to impeach Trump. Burchett added that Elon’s money didn’t count for much anymore, saying, “He’s got a huge checkbook, obviously, and this town is gutless.”
Elon’s influence had once been helpful to GOP lawmakers criticizing the bill. Now, even White House officials said his outbursts were hurting those efforts. Jim Banks, a Republican senator from Indiana, told CNN Trump was “taking the high ground.” He did admit that Elon had helped cut costs in the past but made it clear the Senate would find its own way to tweak the bill if needed.
House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to calm things down. He told reporters that he texted Elon to explain the bill after Elon ignored his calls. Johnson called Elon “a friend,” but rejected his claim about helping Trump win in 2024. “I don’t think any one person deserves credit, but if there is one person, that’s Donald J. Trump,” Johnson said.
Elon loses allies, Tesla loses value, and Trump walks away stronger
Meanwhile as Tesla’s stock tumbled, Forbes calculated his losses at $27 billion, making it one of the worst financial hits he’s ever taken. Even with a massive lead over Mark Zuckerberg, who holds about $236 billion, and Trump, who sits at $5.4 billion and ranks 689th, the loss stung hard.
Only a few Republicans dared to support Elon after the dust settled. Two House members who voted against the bill—Thomas Massie from Kentucky and Warren Davidson from Ohio—publicly backed him. Another outlier, David Schweikert of Arizona, said, “Musk is absolutely right,” when asked about the growing debt.
Others called it a messy breakup. Aaron Bean, a Republican from Florida and head of the DOGE caucus, said, “You see two friends fighting, and it’s sad that it escalated so quickly.” Bean still pledged support for DOGE and added, “Maybe they can share a Diet Coke together.” But even jokes couldn’t hide the fallout. Elon’s influence in Washington is now seriously damaged.
Tensions had been building for weeks. Elon was already mad that the White House pulled Jared Isaacman, a close ally of his, from consideration to lead NASA. He also hated new rules in the tax bill that would remove EV tax credits, a huge blow to Tesla’s bottom line.
Still, none of that stopped Republicans from cutting ties. Ralph Norman, a Republican from South Carolina, said, “When you get two strong personalities, it’s bound to happen.” He called the feud “sad for the country” and added, “No one else had the bandwidth to do what he’s done, to identify what he’s done.”
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