"Smooth sailing" ultimately turned out to be a miscalculation.

Author: Moonshot

Musk and Trump have been trading barbs for four days now, and this time they have completely fallen out.

The main stage of this farce is Musk's own platform X, mixed with the "incitement" from mainstream media like The Wall Street Journal and CBS, making it one of the most exciting reality shows in recent times, as well as a traffic magnet for major social media platforms.

Due to the intensity of the insults, the numerous elements involved, and the dramatic peaks, mainstream media is delighted, and onlookers are left dumbfounded.

Even on Weibo across the ocean, these two have been trending recently | Source: Weibo

Last week, Musk was still the "first buddy" of the White House, and on May 30, Trump publicly bid farewell to Musk as he stepped down from the Department of Efficiency, saying with reluctance: "Elon will always be with us, providing help along the way." Yet, less than three days later, the two turned on each other faster than flipping a page.

Musk transformed into the "anti-Trump vanguard," and Trump directly fired back, "Elon is so annoying." Surprisingly, the biggest victim in this farce turned out to be: Tesla.

Is this a game of power, or is it about unequal interests?

01 True buddies throw down the keyboard

The story begins on June 3. Although Musk often makes some "outrageous statements" on X, that day he posted 25 tweets in a row, shouting "KILL THE BILL!"

He wasn't expressing his love for "Kill Bill," but was vehemently opposing Trump's pushed "Big Beautiful Bill" tax and spending proposal.

The core of the "Big Beautiful Bill" is to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by $4 trillion and make America "great again" through infrastructure and tax cuts.

As the former head of DOGE, Musk has struggled for months without reducing the $1 trillion government deficit, making this bill a slap in the face for him.

Musk started off as a keyboard warrior, stating, "I can't take it anymore, this massive, infuriating, pork-filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Those who vote for it should be ashamed."

He then claimed, "Once the Big Beautiful Bill passes, the U.S. economy will 'collapse again'." What Musk didn't mention is that he himself is one of the biggest players in the capital market.

Musk also took the time to calculate the costs for his fans, calling the "Big Beautiful Bill" "outrageous and filled with political donations," stating it would "significantly increase the already massive budget deficit to $2.5 trillion, and the American people will bear this mountain of debt; Congress is driving the country to bankruptcy!"

After venting his emotions, Musk wanted to take action, calling on his 200 million followers on X to call their congressional representatives. "Call your representatives, pressure Congress, we can't let America go bankrupt, let's kill this bill!"

Additionally, Musk's dozens of tweets included sarcasm directed at Trump's tariff policies, a large number of retweets supporting his views, and he even quoted several of Trump's old posts from 2012-2013 to mockingly ask, "Where did this wise old man go? Possessed?"

The master of sarcasm, Musk | Source: X

Musk ranted for two days without a response from Trump, who only had the White House press secretary publicly state, "President Trump is aware of Musk's views on the bill, but this will not change the president's opinion, as this is a big and beautiful bill that he will firmly push forward."

At this point, mainstream media began to fan the flames, with The Wall Street Journal first reporting that Trump was "fed up" with Musk in the White House, stating in an internal meeting: "Does Musk want to be a presidential advisor? I think he should take care of Tesla first!"

Musk's response was to go on CBS, Fox, and other television stations to continue criticizing the "Big Beautiful Bill," Congress, and the Republican Party, while deliberately avoiding direct confrontation with Trump, which had a "poking the bear" feel to it.

Faced with Musk's barrage of attacks, Trump finally couldn't hold back. He first stated in a White House interview, "I am very disappointed in Elon. I have helped him a lot, and he knows better than anyone how this bill works. Suddenly he has an opinion just because he found out we are going to force cuts on electric vehicles."

He almost directly implied: Musk doesn't really love America; he is just afraid his electric cars won't sell.

Musk seemed to be live-tweeting, responding in real-time, "Wrong, this bill was never shown to me."

Then he transformed into a warrior, stating, "Without me, Trump would have lost the election long ago; he is truly ungrateful." Even more dramatically, he launched a poll: "Is it time to create a new political party representing 80% of moderates?" During this, he didn't forget to sarcastically add, "President Trump can still serve for another 3.5 years, while I have decades left in my term."

Musk indeed has the capital to say this; he has spent at least $250 million helping Trump and other Republicans get elected in 2024, even at the cost of damaging his and Tesla's public image.

Now Trump was also anxious and began to attack Musk on his own social media platform, Truth Social.

"Elon has become annoying; I asked him to leave and rescinded his electric vehicle mandate—forcing everyone to buy electric cars that no one wants (he knew I was going to do this months ago!). As a result, he completely lost it!" This not only expressed his attitude towards Musk but also hinted that Musk was opposing the "Big Beautiful Bill" out of self-interest.

Trump then stated, "The best way to save hundreds of billions in the budget is to terminate the government subsidies and contracts that Elon has received. I have always been surprised that Biden hasn't done this!"

Once this was said, Tesla's stock price plummeted, with a maximum drop of 14.26% on that day, evaporating about $150 billion in market value.

Source: Truth Social

Can you believe it? This two-day-long insult battle hasn't even reached its climax yet. After Trump entered the fray, Musk completely severed ties with him.

"It's time to drop a bombshell, @President Trump is on Epstein's list, and that's the real reason he doesn't want the list to be exposed." He ended with a heartless remark, "Have a nice day, DJT (Trump's initials)!"

Epstein, known for his involvement in underage sex trafficking and sexual assault allegations, died mysteriously in prison in 2019, and his list is infamously known as the "Lolita Island customer list."

This delighted the Democrats, and various Democratic politicians quickly called for "the documents to be made public, let us see too."

Perhaps feeling indignant about Trump's questioning of his patriotism, Musk immediately announced, "In light of the president's statement about canceling my government contracts, SpaceX will retire the Dragon spacecraft."

It's worth noting that SpaceX is one of the largest aerospace contractors for the U.S. government and an important partner for NASA. Currently, U.S. manned space activities heavily rely on SpaceX's "Dragon" spacecraft. Just two months ago, two American astronauts stranded in space for months were rescued by NASA's request for SpaceX to bring them back to Earth, saving America's "national dignity."

Musk's implication is clear: you accuse me of profiting from government contracts and only wanting to sell electric cars? Let me show you how much I have contributed to America.

He then retweeted several posts filled with "patriotic sentiment," responding with a "yes" to a post supporting Trump's impeachment.

At this point, Musk has questioned the "legitimacy" of Trump's presidency, and the two are truly irreconcilable.

But if you ask who has suffered the most in this insult battle, it has to be Tesla.

02 Tesla caught in the crossfire

From June 3 to June 6, Tesla's stock price resembled a roller coaster, with its market value evaporating by as much as $150 billion in a single day, setting a historical record.

Investors saw Musk busy fighting with Trump and the policy environment becoming unfriendly, and they all fled.

In 2024, the global electric vehicle market grew by 25%, but Tesla's market share fell from 70% in 2021 to less than 50% in 2024.

This year is even worse; Tesla's sales in the first quarter of 2025 have dropped to the lowest level in three years, with earnings plummeting by 71%. During the peak of the tariff war, Tesla's stock price once plummeted by 45% within the year.

Tesla even issued a warning to investors: changes in political sentiment could reduce product sales.

This statement almost directly implies: Musk's political adventures have "dragged down" Tesla.

To make matters worse, consumers are not only refusing to buy cars but are also vandalizing them.

In recent months, a "Stop Musk, Stop Tesla" movement has erupted across the United States, with Tesla service centers being vandalized and charging stations being set on fire.

Previously, The Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla was looking for a new CEO | Source: The Wall Street Journal

After news broke from the Tesla board about searching for a new CEO (which has been officially denied), Musk quickly stepped back from DOGE, stating that he would focus less on governance and return his work focus to Tesla.

Things aren't looking much better for Trump either. His Trump Media Technology Group's stock price dropped 8% during the feud.

The crypto market is even worse, with Ethereum down 8% and Bitcoin losing $4,000 in a single day.

After all, Musk is a businessman, not a real politician. His brief "political experience" with DOGE has already left him disillusioned. The hashtag "#FireElon" has gone viral on X, and he has received numerous death threats as a result.

Moreover, Trump's tariff policies have caused Tesla's manufacturing costs to skyrocket, and the Optimus robot project has been stalled due to China's rare earth restrictions. Now, SpaceX is also publicly at odds with the U.S. government and NASA.

The key point is that these "pits" were dug by Musk himself, who spent over $200 million in 2024, rallying support for Trump to help him regain power.

Politicians set the stage, and businesses pay the price. Musk is likely realizing what it means to be "the carefully cultivated chives, only to be harvested by oneself." His own company has been completely dragged down by his political adventures.

However, this breakup drama was both expected and unexpected.

After all, Trump has never been fond of the electric vehicle business. In 2013, he even criticized Tesla on Twitter for "burning money uselessly," not to mention that during his 2024 campaign, he emphasized "America First," promoting traditional manufacturing in the Midwest, and was determined to make gas vehicles and factory workers "great again."

On the other hand, after Trump's election, Musk insisted on pursuing an elite-driven "Dark MAGA" approach, which has long displeased Trump's core "redneck MAGA" supporters.

In simple terms, Musk wants America to be the world's Iron Man, while Trump just wants Americans to drive their old pickups.

This strong alliance ultimately turned out to be a miscalculation.

Of course, for the two main characters in this White House drama, both being businessmen, it is hard to say how the situation will evolve next. They could very well become good buddies again in an instant. The onlookers enjoy the spectacle, while the stock market and the industry suffer.

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