Summary

  • Tensions between US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk have reached breaking point, and the bromance is over between the world's most powerful leader and richest man

  • For more than a week, Musk has been trashing Trump's signature piece of legislation - a spending bill - actively lobbying against it

  • On Thursday, while meeting the German leader in the Oval Office, Trump spoke candidly about his disappointment with Musk

  • In response, Musk launched a series of extraordinary attacks on X, suggesting without evidence that Trump appears in unreleased files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

  • Trump shot back several times, saying that Musk "went CRAZY" and was asked to leave the administration. He also threatened to cut government contracts with Musk's companies

  • Amid the fighting, Tesla's stock price dropped a significant 14%, lowering Musk's EV giant below the $1 trillion threshold

  • But Musk has walked back from an earlier threat to decommission a crucial SpaceX spacecraft used by US astronauts

  • The public feud comes after Musk last week officially left his government post, where he was tasked with rooting out excessive spending through Doge

Live Reporting

Edited by Stuart Lau

  1. Trump and Musk trade blows as relationship implodespublished at 11:14

    11:14

    One of Washington's most significant alliances - between US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the world's richest man - has broken up in a very public spat.

    In no equivocal terms, Trump told the media that he was "very disappointed" in the man whom he once authorised to slash federal funding.

    They have now turned on each other, as a disagreement has ballooned into a war of words, writes our North America Correspondent Anthony Zurcher.

    And that comes with serious policy and business implications: Musk initially threatened to decommission a crucial spacecraft owned by his SpaceX company, only to walk back from it hours later. Meanwhile, his other company, Tesla, saw share prices drop by 14%.

    We will be pausing our live coverage shortly, but you can stay across this story on BBC News: Trump and Musk trade insults as row explodes in public view.

    Trump and Elon: a relationship in picturespublished at 11:00

    11:00

    From friendship to feud: Let's take a look back at some of the most important moments in the relationship between the two men making the news today.