Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s public clash took a dramatic turn on Friday. In a fresh controversy, Musk has announced the immediate shutdown of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, a key vehicle used by NASA.
Trump criticized Musk and said that the government should stop giving him billions of dollars in subsidies and contracts. It’s important to understand that NASA relies on SpaceX’s Dragon to transport astronauts to and from the ISS, under a $4.9 billion deal. It’s currently the only U.S. spacecraft that can carry humans into orbit.
This move would disrupt the global ISS program, with only Russia’s Soyuz as the next option. But after a user urged Musk and Trump to cool down their fights, Musk reacted, saying, “Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.” Soon after, he posted a photo of the US flag with the Dragon spacecraft in the background, saying “Team America”.
This came after President Trump warned he might cancel government deals with Musk and Tesla, after the billionaire strongly criticised the President’s tax and spending plans.
Musk was disappointed by the massive spending bill because he claimed that it increases the budget deficit instead of reducing it, and it goes against the efforts of the DOGE cost-cutting team he led.
Their clash started a day earlier during a tense Oval Office meeting. Trump expressed disappointment, saying that Musk had previously supported a key government spending bill but suddenly changed his mind. For the unversed, Trump had given Musk a big farewell as he wrapped up his role leading the government’s cost-cutting team, DOGE.
But Musk said that it wasn’t true that he saw the bill before it passed. He added “Whatever” along with a video where Trump said Musk was upset about losing electric vehicle subsidies. Musk even said that Trump wouldn’t have won the election without his help, pointing out he was Trump’s biggest campaign donor, giving almost $300 million.
Vice President JD Vance said he is “proud to stand beside” President Trump, calling him a trusted leader. This came after Musk backed calls for Trump to be impeached and replaced by Vance.
The clash has also turned personal now as Musk has recently fired back with an unverified claim linking Trump to Epstein documents, adding fuel to the fire. One user on X joked, “The big beautiful bill led to the big beautiful breakup,” over the tussle between the two. Despite the heated tensions, when billionaire investor Bill Ackman urged the two to “make peace for the good of the country,” Musk replied, “You’re not wrong.”
Tesla shares dropped sharply, falling 8% after Musk’s comments. The shares were down 15% on Thursday. Musk has also warned that the President’s tariffs, which shook global markets, might cause a recession in the second half of the year.
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