President Donald Trump intensified his public feud with Elon Musk, threatening to terminate billions in federal contracts and subsidies for Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX, in a dramatic escalation of their deteriorating alliance.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump accused Musk of going “CRAZY” over the proposed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a tax and spending package projected to add $3.8 trillion to the U.S.’s $36.2 trillion debt, which Musk labeled a “disgusting abomination.” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” noting SpaceX’s $22 billion in contracts and Tesla’s clean energy subsidies.
The feud, rooted in Musk’s opposition to the bill and Trump’s withdrawal of Musk ally Jared Isaacman’s NASA nomination, led to a 14% drop in Tesla’s stock, erasing $150 billion in value. Musk briefly threatened to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, critical for NASA’s International Space Station missions, before retracting after calls for de-escalation.
The conflict, costing Musk’s empire $200 million daily in market losses, has raised concerns about U.S. space programs, with 80% of NASA’s astronaut transport reliant on SpaceX. White House aides, led by Susie Wiles, are pushing for reconciliation, with a scheduled call on July 3, 2025, to salvage the $2 trillion U.S. space and EV sectors.