👫 Once Close Allies
Elon Musk joined Trump’s inner circle in late 2024, even co-leading the short-lived Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) inside Trump’s administration youtube.com+5ft.com+5news.com.au+5cbsnews.com+11cbsnews.com+11en.wikipedia.org+11.
They shared friendly moments: Oval Office visits, campaign rallies, and public praise — Musk once quipped, “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.” cbsnews.com.
💥 The Fallout
The relationship ruptured over Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”, a sweeping tax‑cut and spending package. Musk denounced it as a “disgusting abomination”, citing damage to EV incentives and EV mandates — core to Tesla’s business aftenposten.no+6ft.com+6aljazeera.com+6.
Musk criticized the bill publicly on X, calling it insane and threatening to form a new political party — the proposed “America Party” — to oppose the legislation reuters.com+12aljazeera.com+12theguardian.com+12.
🔥 Trump Strikes Back
Trump threatened to revoke government contracts and subsidies critical to Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX — calling DOGE “the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon” apnews.com+1theguardian.com+1.