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Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s feud goes public: Timeline of their tumultuous partnership
Trump and Musk are engaging in public fights on social media. Here’s a timeline of the highs and lows of Musk and Trump’s bromance.
President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s relationship seems to have taken a downward spiral in the past few days. The pair that once grabbed every opportunity to praise each other’s work have now resorted to engaging in frequent social media spats due to a difference of opinion over Trump’s new “Big, Beautiful Bill”. The confrontation reached a peak on Thursday (June 5), after Musk’s exit from the Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE).
Here’s a timeline of the highs and lows of Musk and Trump’s bromance:
2016
Considering the events of the past year, it may be hard to believe that Musk hasn’t always been Trump’s biggest fan. During Trump’s first run for presidency back in 2016, Musk openly expressed his support for Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in an interview with CNBC, labeling her environmental and economic policies “the right ones”. "I feel a bit stronger that he is not the right guy. He doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States,” Musk said of Trump at the time.
Till 2020
Once Trump beat Clinton in the 2016 race to the White House, Musk retained ties with the federal government due to the close contractual interaction between NASA and his company SpaceX. He was also a part of several White House advisory boards such as Trump’s Manufacturing Jobs Council. However, when Trump decided to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords in 2017, Musk publicly voiced his disapproval of the decision by tweeting, “Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.”
Trump, however, felt differently and publicaly called Musk a “great guy” during a 2020 SpaceX launch in Florida.
Till 2023
It was in May 2022, that Musk decided to switch his allegiance from blue to red and publically declared his support of the Republican Party, calling the Democrats a “party of division & hate”.
Even though Musk decided to rally behind the GOP, it didn’t automatically ensure his support for Trump as the right man for the job. He instead supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a long-time rival of Trump, and even joined a Twitter livestream in May 2023 to support his campaign for the presidency.
Despite a social media feud with Trump in 2022, Musk took the call to reinstate Trump’s Twitter account after buying the company in October of that year. His account had previously been suspended from the platform following the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. This move came four days after Trump announced his third run for the presidency.
July 2024
It was after an assassination attempt during his election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, that Musk first announced public support for Trump’s presidency via a social media post.
Till October 2024
Trump and Musk came together on an X livestream to share their views on various political topics during which the Tesla CEO expressed a willingness to serve in government by posting a picture of him as a representative of a new department: DoGE.
Musk reportedly became the largest spender in the 2024 presidential election by contributing about a quarter of a billion dollars for several Republicans’ campaigns, specifically that of Trump. He was then spotted standing next to the presidential candidate in an October rally back at the Pennsylvania location of Trump’s failed assassination attempt while wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap and calling him the only candidate “to preserve democracy in America”.
November 2024
One of Trump’s first moves after returning to the White House was to pass an executive order that materialized DoGE into reality. Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy were now tasked with identifying and cutting down on wasteful spending and frauds in the bureaucracy.
The President also attended a SpaceX “Starship” launch in Texas during this time to express his support for Musk.
January 2025
Trump gave Musk a special shoutout during his election night victory speech by calling him an “amazing guy” and saying, “A star is born.”
Till March 2025
As head of the DoGE, Musk took active measures to cut costs but failed to meet his target of saving up to $1 trillion during his time in office which would have helped cut down on the $36 trillion US debt and possibly circulate stimulus checks among the American population. He was soon included in the President’s inner circle as a trusted advisor and regularly attended cabinet meetings or traveled aboard Air Force One.
When Trump opponents protested against Musk’s company, the President rolled onto the White House's South Lawn in a red Tesla to publically announce support for the car and his friend. He took to social media to applaud Musk for doing a “FANTASTIC JOB” and said that he would buy a brand new Tesla the very next day.
April 2025
Due to flaking investor confidence in the Tesla CEO’s ability to devote time to the company and the lapse of the 130 days for special government employees like Musk, Trump announced that his confidant would soon be leaving DoGE. “You're invited to stay as long as you want. At some point, he wants to get back home to his cars,” said Trump during a cabinet meeting.
May 2025
During a May 29 CBS interview, Musk expressed his disappointment with several provisions in Trump’s new public spending bill which he felt would increase the budget deficit and undermine all the work he had been trying to do at DOGE. “I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” he said. Trump gave the former DoGE head a farewell the next day as he left office by saying, “Elon's really not leaving. He's going to be back and forth, I think, I have a feeling.”
June 2025
Once out of office, Musk started voicing his criticism of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” in harsher terms by labeling it a “disgusting abomination."
Trump subsequently threatened to cancel Musk’s governmental subsidies and contracts.
Musk clapped back by claiming that Trump would not have won the presidency without him.
Musk reshared posts critical of the President on his page including one that demanded Trump’s impeachment. During the spar, Trump blamed Musk’s social media lash-out on his decision to end tax credits for electric vehicles.
The feud reached a peak on Thursday when Musk dropped a bomb by claiming that Trump is intentionally shielding the full release of the Epstein files due to his involvement in the case.
