After the world watched months of an apparent close relationship between President Donald Trump and multibillionaire Elon Musk, few have been able to look away at the apparent unraveling of that relationship this week.
Andy Smith, director of the University New Hampshire Survey Center Joined Audacy this week to take a look at the potential implications of a decaying relationship between Musk and the president.
“I think that those MAGA guys who went out and bought Cybertrucks are probably looking at those things, saying: ‘How do I get rid of this ugly car?’” he said, referring to the Tesla vehicles that have been a particular target of ire. “But I think there is a real control that Trump has over top of his people, and there’s folks’ willingness to listen to what Trump identifies as good or bad, and go along with it.”
It was just a few months ago that Musk – known as the CEO of Tesla and Space X and the owner of the social media platform X – posted “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man,” on the platform. Trump also selected Musk to run the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a controversial initiative that focused on reducing government spending through staffing cuts, ending contracts and more.
Musk’s foray into U.S. politics attracted media attention and criticism and in the first months following Trump’s inauguration, Tesla sales faltered. There were also reports of attacks on Tesla vehicles, and Trump himself threatened steep consequences for perpetrators.
Tension between the two men apparently reached a breaking point over what Trump calls the “big beautiful bill” that is currently making its way through Congress. While the president has been an ardent champion of the legislation, Musk has bashed it for its potential to add trillions of dollars to the already swollen U.S. debt.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” he said in a Tuesday X post.
Trump was quick to clap back and he threatened to cut Musk’s own government contracts in a Truth Social post. Of course, Musk also clapped back, saying in a Thursday X post that “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.”
Dragon spacecraft is used for NASA missions. Last week, the space agency marked the return of SpaceX’s 32nd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for NASA. SpaceX also brought home NASA astronauts who were stranded for months after making their way to the ISS in a Boeing craft that experience technical difficulties.
Musk also took aim at Trump’s tariff plans this week, saying that they will “cause a recession in the second half of this year.” He also posted about Trump’s alleged relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,” said Trump in a Thursday afternoon Truth Social post defending the spending proposal. “This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn’t pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn’t create this mess, I’m just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
In an interview with Audacy, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president plans to sign the bill into law on July 4. However, it still needs to pass in the Senate, and even some Republicans are wary of passing the legislation.
Trump and Musk have been feeding the flames of speculation about their falling out enough with these social media posts, but Smith noted that other sources have also been adding to the lore. For example, CNN reported that Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters that Musk was just “a special government employee with an expiration date.”
“I don’t know what to think about this because we’re getting bits and pieces from various… leakers, I would say within government who have their own positions and they’re trying to play on that slippery, greasy pole of power,” said Smith.
He said that for some in the MAGA-verse, Musk’s fall from grace might be welcome.
“I think there are a lot of people that were in the Trump administration that didn’t like Musk in there at all,” he told WWL’s Tommy Tucker. “An outsider, somebody who jumped into the campaign late. Musk, I’m sure, doesn’t like a lot of the other people within the Trump administration, who he sees as kind of the typical problem within Washington, not moving fast, inefficient, and so forth.”
As for how this feud might impact the American people, Smith said that Trump holds more sway over Congress than Musk
“It does sound like there are some real problems with the expense side of the big, beautiful bill in the eyes of Musk, but that’s probably true in the eye of a lot of other Republicans in the House and the Senate who aren’t willing to stand up and say much about it because, frankly, their positions may rely on being nice to Trump, whereas for Musk, he’s an independent actor here,” he explained.
Pulling back to look at American politics over the recent past, Smith also said the relationship between Musk and Trump highlights a concerning trend of politicians on both sides of the aisle using their power to help their friends and hinder their enemies.
“That’s getting into kind of banana republic territory, and that, I think, is a troubling long-term trend that we've had in America,” he said.