Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual, has launched a fierce online attack against Steve Bannon, former advisor to President Donald Trump, over his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The Tesla magnate took to social media platform X, where he characterized Bannon as “evil” and shared a photo purportedly depicting Bannon with Epstein. Musk accused Bannon of laundering money for nefarious purposes, stating, “Bannon’s list of crimes is very long.”

Bannon, known for his controversial role as a Republican political strategist and his involvement in Trump’s 2016 campaign, has come under renewed scrutiny following revelations from the Department of Justice and House Oversight Committee. These documents expose extensive communications between Bannon and Epstein. Before Epstein faced charges of sex trafficking in 2019, he collaborated with Bannon in efforts to rehabilitate his public image, which had been severely damaged by his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Part of their strategy involved the creation of a documentary intended to portray Epstein in a more favorable light. Recently disclosed documents reveal a trove of messages exchanged between the two, leading up to Epstein’s arrest in July 2019.

The correspondence between Bannon and Epstein included plans for a meeting in July 2019, which Epstein canceled abruptly before being apprehended by authorities. This recent revelation adds another layer of complexity to the long-standing public sparring between Bannon and Musk. While Bannon has largely refrained from addressing these latest Epstein-related accusations, he has not held back in criticizing Musk in the past. Last year, Bannon labeled Musk, who hails from South Africa, as an anti-American “globalist” and a “parasitic illegal immigrant.” During a particularly heated period of conflict between Musk and Trump earlier this year, Bannon frequently voiced his disdain for the billionaire. Despite the silence on the current allegations, the tension between these prominent figures continues to simmer.

‘President Trump empowered him more than anyone’s ever been empowered, and people like me said you’re making a mistake,’ Bannon said of Musk in June 2025. ‘This is a bad guy. He’s going to turn on us. He’s also totally incompetent.’ Musk has, in turn, gone scorched earth on Bannon, posting about the political advisor over half a dozen times in the past 48 hours. The high-profile fight has forced some figures in the president’s orbit to choose sides.

‘Funny how Bannon’s fellow antisemites and isolationists have not demanded that HE come clean about his well-established, video-taped relationship with Epstein,’ conservative commentator Mark Levin wrote on Monday. ‘[Elon Musk] certainly turned out to be right about Steve Bannon,’ former Trump advisor Roger Stone wrote on X. ‘No one has done more for free speech rights, and the first amendment then ⁦[Musk].’