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2025-06-07 Economy
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Elon Musk Woke Up $34 Billion Poorer After Trump Clash
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Olga Kuznetsova
[REGNUM] The boyars are fighting, the serfs' social networks are ablaze - this is the motto under which many journalists are actively working on the large-scale squabble between US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk .
Potential termination of government contracts, a list of pedophiles, assistance in taking the presidential seat were mentioned, and at the end even memes flashed by.
But will this lead to anything serious? Let's find out.
WORD FOR WORD
Elon Musk was the first to air his dirty laundry.
He criticized the Republican budget and tax bill, which, under the specific name of One Big Beautiful Bill, would increase the debt ceiling to $4 trillion, eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, and extend tax breaks.
Musk started small.
On May 28, he noted that the adoption of such a law could lead to an increase in the budget deficit; on June 3, on his page on a social network banned in the Russian Federation, X called the bill “vile” and “disgusting”; on June 5, he called the adoption of the law madness.
At this point, Donald Trump finally got to his social media — not X, but Truth Social — and dropped the politeness, writing that Elon had begged him for help “on his knees,” was now talking absolute nonsense, and that without Trump, all of Musk’s companies “would have died.”
An hour and a half later, Musk updated the page and delighted the public with a screenshot of an old Trump post with a meme about his connections with Jeffrey Epstein and a note that he wanted a reasonable leader for America, not a personality cult.
In addition, Musk began to claim that without his help, Trump would have lost the election.
In response, the American leader told the public that the easiest way to save money in the budget — billions and billions of dollars — was to “stop government subsidies and Elon’s contracts.” Trump expressed surprise that Biden had not done this sooner.
After that, Musk proposed creating a new political party that would represent the interests of 80% of the US middle class, and then blurted out that the president had not made public the files on the Epstein case because he himself was on the list of clients of the famous pimp and pedophile. And he wished Trump a good day.
In the midst of the late-night squabble, Musk also threatened to ground the Crew Dragon spacecraft amid federal pressure. His remarks came on the heels of Trump vowing to cancel government contracts for Tesla and SpaceX, responding to Musk’s earlier criticism of federal money being wasted.
The tech billionaire says that if political pressure from the federal government intensifies, he may temporarily "mothball" Crew Dragon, which would effectively halt the supply of crews and cargo to the ISS — thus undermining one of NASA's key missions.
However, the situation was unexpectedly resolved thanks to a comment from a user named Alaska, whose account has only 184 followers. He wrote: "It's a shame to see this squabble. You are both above all this. Cool down and take a break for a few days."
Musk responded 11 minutes later, calling the advice "good" and promising not to retire Dragon.
What's the matter?
Investors were clearly watching the squabble with some concern.
By the morning, Tesla shares had already seen their biggest drop since 2020 — 14%. The company's market capitalization fell by $152 billion, and Musk's personal fortune by $34 billion.
| The poor man is only worth a little less than $400 billion now — all his children and their various mothers will soon be begging in the streets. But how much will his Tesla sales improve now that the Trump-haters see Mr. Musk as having rejoined their ranks? |
Rumors began to filter into the media about the real reason for the digital scandal between the two former allies.
According to some, Musk was initially angry over a bill that would cut tax breaks for electric vehicles, which directly affected Tesla. Musk's company tried to preserve the breaks and spent at least $240,000 lobbying for the necessary decision, but to no avail.
In addition, Musk really didn’t like the scandalous trade tariffs that were undermining relations with the European Union and leaving a negative imprint on business.
Elon Musk held the status of a "special government employee" in the White House. According to some reports, he tried to stay in this role longer than the 130 days stipulated by law, without leaving business processes and without accepting the restrictions associated with the position. However, the current American administration allegedly refused him this.
There are also rumors that Elon Musk wanted the US Federal Aviation Administration to use the Starlink satellite system for national air traffic control, but the administration rejected that idea as well, citing a potential conflict of interest.
In addition, a few days ago, Donald Trump unexpectedly withdrew Jared Isaacman's candidacy for the post of NASA administrator. Isaacman is considered a person from Musk's inner circle, and Musk actively promoted him for the position.
However, there are also experts who believe that two personalities of such stature as Musk and Trump simply could not help but quarrel.
They first did so during Trump's first term in 2017, when the US withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. Musk then said that such a decision was harmful to the planet and demonstratively quit two White House advisory boards.
Musk has made unpredictability and unwillingness to adhere to the conventions accepted in the White House - especially subordination - part of his image, but with their help he has won active dislike from certain political groups within the Republican Party.
Musk's libertarian views also created a certain tension in relations with conservative politicians, and his irrepressible desire to promote his ideas to top officials bypassing the required corridor of approvals deprived him of additional contacts that could help resolve situations like the current scandal.
THERE ARE OPTIONS
Donald Trump has already announced to the media that he is not particularly interested in talking to Elon Musk, as he believes that he has “lost his mind.”
However, there is still a possibility that this conflict can be extinguished.
Trump's entourage is already cultivating the sympathetic media, feeding them inside information about how Trump is "quite calm" and not too angry at Elon Musk.
Moreover, a major row of this magnitude could push the tech mogul into the arms of his Democratic rivals, who have already seized on the news of Trump's presence on Epstein's list and started demanding that federal authorities begin releasing the disputed files and explaining any delays.
The Republicans, in their current state, simply cannot afford to “gift” Musk to the Democratic Party – most of the current US space initiatives and military projects are tightly tied to Musk’s companies and cannot be quickly replaced.
However, it is still not worth waiting for the restoration of the previous relations between the “bosses of populism”.
Another thing is that Elon Musk can come to his senses, turn off the flow of insults addressed to Trump's team and try to knock out at least some benefits for his business. Will he succeed?
It is quite possible, but clearly not in the volumes that Musk initially predicted for himself - and this is where Donald Trump and Co. come out on top.
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Posted by badanov 2025-06-07 00:00||
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