The Trump-Musk Relationship Ruptures in Real Time

Long-simmering tensions between President Trump and Elon Musk burst into the open as the two men traded barbs and insults, signaling the rupturing of a relationship that had been one of the most consequential in modern American politics. President Trump, publicly addressing Musk’s latest attacks on his signature tax bill for the first time, said he was disappointed in his former White House adviser and suggested he was suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.” Musk, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help get Trump re-elected, shot back in real time on social media that the president was ungrateful and wouldn’t be sitting in the Oval Office without his support. The feud could have serious consequences for both men. Musk mused on social media about starting a new political party and encouraged Republicans to side with him in his spat with President Trump, as Tesla shares declined as much as 14 percent. And President Trump threatened to eliminate government subsidies and contracts for Musk’s businesses.