The Bromance Is Over: Musk Calls Trump 'Ungrateful'

Key Points

• Tensions between Trump and Musk escalated, marked by public insults and the rupturing of their relationship.
• Musk criticizes Trump’s tax bill for expanding deficits, despite Trump’s attempts to defend the legislation.
• Trump suggests Musk suffers from ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ after Musk’s criticism of the bill

Long-simmering tensions between President Trump and Elon Musk exploded into public view, shattering a once-crucial alliance in American politics. The two traded sharp insults, with Trump addressing Musk’s attacks on his signature tax bill for the first time, accusing him of “Trump derangement syndrome” and linking his frustration to provisions repealing electric vehicle tax credits, critical to Musk’s company, Tesla, a leading electric vehicle manufacturer. 

“He only developed the problem because he knew we had to cut the EV mandate,” Trump said in the Oval Office. He also suggested Musk was upset over the withdrawal of a key ally’s nomination to lead NASA.

Musk, who poured hundreds of millions into Trump’s re-election, fired back on social media, calling Trump ungrateful and claiming his support secured the presidency. Trump, however, dismissed Musk’s role, stating, “I think I would have won Pennsylvania anyway,” as White House chief of staff Susie Wiles nodded emphatically.

The feud could reshape their futures. Musk, musing about launching a new political party and rallying Republicans to his side, saw Tesla shares slip. Trump threatened to slash government subsidies and contracts for Musk’s businesses, escalating the stakes.

Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

For months, their partnership had been a marriage of convenience, according to The Wall  Street Journal, with Musk wielding significant influence as a White House adviser leading the Department of Government Efficiency. Despite private tensions, they publicly lauded each other until Musk’s escalating criticism of the tax and spending bill—particularly its EV provisions—made their alliance untenable, according to sources close to both.
Trump remarked that Musk, once intimately familiar with the bill’s details, had shifted his stance after stepping down as an adviser. 

“Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody here,” he said, underscoring the depth of their rift.