Trump and Musk's feud caught global attention of billionaires

Fractures in President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s relationship has split the political and business world. Over the past 12 hours, lawmakers, billionaires, and internet personalities have been reacting to the serious accusations, policy threats, and personal insults between the world’s richest man and the President of the United States.

After months of frequently praising each other in public and making appearances together at events, Musk and Trump abruptly turned against each other this week. The former is claiming credit for Trump’s 2024 election win, propounding that without his influence, Democrats would have retained the House, and Republicans would have only narrowly held the Senate.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” Musk posted on social platform X. “Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude.”

President Trump responded by threatening to revoke billions of dollars in government subsidies and contracts for Musk’s SpaceX’s national Space Station, which relies on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

Trump and Musk accusations and allegations cause spur

On Thursday evening, Musk accused Trump of being “in the Epstein files” without evidence, only backing his claims by saying it was the reason certain documents related to Epstein had not been released to the public. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt bashed the Tesla CEO’s statements and said he was acting out because of his “dissatisfaction with the administration’s legislative priorities.” 

“This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted,” Leavitt said in a statement yesternight.

Conservative political commentator and author Candace Owens supported Leavitt’s sentiment, posting on social media: 

“Trump is implicated alongside a pedophile, and I knew it but didn’t care because we were friends’ is not the flex you think it is.” 

She was backed by internet personality Graham Allen, who questioned Musk’s timing of the claims. “According to Elon Musk, Trump is on the Epstein list. So naturally, he let him hang out with his kid. I DO NOT BELIEVE ELON,” Allen said.

A source familiar with the administration told CNN that previously released Epstein-related files included references to Trump’s name due to his past association with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s. Still, it reiterated that there are no allegations against the president. 

The source also talked about several of Musk’s own posts earlier this year, including one in which he wrote, “I love Trump as much as a straight man can love a straight man.” This, according to them, places Musk’s sincerity into question. 

“If Elon truly thought the President was more deeply involved with Epstein, why did he hang out with him for 6 months?” the source asked.

Ye, the rapper who has close ties with both Trump and Musk, took to X to beg the powerheads to reconcile. “Broooos please noooooo,” he wrote, “we love you both so much.”

Musk has been reposting Trump’s commentary on social media when the latter lambasted the Biden administration for passing laws that could increase America’s public debt. He told his followers on X that the “big beautiful bill” would trigger a recession by the end of the year. He reposted a February interview with CPAC, warning of fiscal insolvency.

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