() President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are expected to speak Friday in a call scheduled by White House aides, according to Politico.
The pair’s public feud, which has played out primarily via social media, has culminated in bombshell accusations against the president and a major hit to Tesla stock.
Why are Trump and Musk fighting?
For months, Trump and Musk have remained united in their quest to reduce federal spending and reshape the government until the duo’s relationship imploded this week.
Musk’s posts have primarily focused on the deficit-growing “big, beautiful bill” and Trump’s comments in the Oval Office about cutting an electric vehicle tax credit.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk said Tuesday on his social platform X.
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” Musk added.
A source told that House Speaker Mike Johnson described Musk as being “hung up on spending.”
The posts escalated until Musk said it was “time to drop the really big bomb.” He accused Trump of being named in the Jeffrey Epstein files and claimed that was the reason the files hadn’t been made public yet. Earlier this year, Trump disclosed the files to a small group of conservative influencers.
Trump fired back in posts of his own on Truth Social, including one in which he wrote that Musk was “wearing thin,” and “he just went crazy.”
Trump threatens to cut government contracts with Musk
On Thursday, Trump floated the idea of canceling government contracts with Musk’s companies, calling it the “easiest way” to cut “billions and billions.”
A Washington Post analysis from February found Musk’s companies have accepted at least $38 billion from the government in the past two decades.
Roughly two-thirds of that money was awarded in the past five years, as SpaceX worked alongside NASA to build up its moon program.
Responding to the president’s threat, Musk said, “Go ahead, make my day.”
Tesla takes hit after public Trump-Musk feud
The billionaire breakup sent Tesla stock tumbling on Thursday.
Shares of Musk’s electric vehicle maker plunged more than 14%, wiping out $150 million in market value by the end of the trading day.
In after-hours trading, Tesla shares rose 0.8%.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
