Donald Trump said to NBC News, “Relationship with Elon Musk is over.” When asked if he wants to reconnect it, he categorically replied-`no’. This is the latest comment from Donald Trump since the initiation of social media spat between him and Elon Musk. Both of them are placing serious accusations against each other. But what is the reason behind such public blow-up between the world’s richest man and the president of the United States in recent days? Before finding out the reason we have to go a few months back. Why has the much-hyped close relationship between Musk and Trump suddenly come to an end and what was the basis of their alliance at the beginning? 
Bitterness between the two giants primarily erupted after Elon Musk’s public criticism of a tax and spending bill named One Big Beautiful Bill. The OBBB proposes extensive tax cuts which could add roughly US$ 3 trillion to the US national debt. Republicans in the House of Representatives narrowly passed a massive tax and spending bill, handing President Donald Trump a major victory last month. The bill is now in the Senate.Musk was never a politician nor was a member of the Republican Party. Like many billionaires he had previously been hesitant to get involved in frontline politics. He has said that he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 but in 2021 he preferred to stay out of politics. Even in early 2024 Musk claimed to be politically non-aligned, suggesting that he would not donate to either presidential campaign. But this apparent neutrality ended following an attempted assassination of Trump during a July, 2024 campaign rally and Musk immediately started endorsing Trump. In reality, Musk’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement brought these two giants close.
After endorsing Trump, Musk spent US dollar 288 million for Trump during the US presidential election 2024 and appeared at campaign events around the country. As a result (please read - reward) of it Musk got the opportunity to work in Trump administration. He was appointed chief of a newly-created temporary office - Department of Government Efficiency. He employed his own personnel in this department and drastically reduced the number of employees in different government departments. World-famous USAID programme was particularly hard hit (finally closed), as were the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Musk’s support for Trump was both ideological and practical. From tax cuts to immigration restrictions there were clearly many ideological similarities between them. There were also clear practical benefits for both of them. Trump gained financial backing from the world’s wealthiest man. Musk gained not only unhindered access to the US president but also a responsibility to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, observers were skeptical about the potential effectiveness of DOGE and Musk’s claim it would save the government US$ 2 trillion.
Musk’s apparent stronghold on the US government did not last long. After assuming control over government departments, Musk and DOGE experienced increasing resistance. To tackle the situation Trump reportedly reduced the power of DOGE in March after a series of unpleasant cabinet meetings. Political involvement was also clearly affecting Musk’s businesses. Negative publicity significantly damaged the Tesla brand which led to declining sales around the world and repeated falls in Telsa’s share price.  
Musk was highly critical of the bill on social media but did not criticise President Trump directly. However, Trump told reporters that he was disappointed with Musk’s behaviour. Musk responded on social media X that without him Trump would have lost the election. At the same time he indicated that Trump’s name was in unreleased files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Rumour regarding rift between Trump and Musk was circulating earlier but each time it failed. Musk later deleted the posts and Epstein’s lawyers also denied the allegations. Trump later wrote on his social media account Truth Social that Musk had gone crazy. In one post, he threatened to terminate Musk’s contract with the federal government. Trump also told NBC News - “Musk had behaved disrespectfully towards the office of the president. It’s very bad because you can’t disrespect the president’s office.” 
Finally, Musk left his official position in Trump administration after 129 days. In a quiet ceremony Musk left the White House. Trump thanked him for his service and presented him a ceremonial golden key of the White House. However, behind public show of civility, tension was mounting over Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. Unable to convince Trump or other Republican legislators, Musk launched a Kill the Bill campaign on X that ultimately led to end his ties with Trump. 
Meanwhile, Musk has declared the name of his new political party - America Party and has indicated on social media that he may support some Trump opponents, i.e. Democrat candidates, in 2026 midterm elections. In an interview with NBC Trump has threatened, “If he (Musk) donates money to Democrat candidates he will face serious consequences.
 Musk has a lot of money. He gets a lot of subsidies. We will only look into it if it is fair to Musk and the United States.” Though not yet certain, government contracts and subsidies for Musk’s companies might be cancelled to save government’s budget. Vice-president Vance has termed Musk’s attack on the president as a big mistake.
On such backdrop of direct threat to each other, some analysts have raised question whether the public feud between US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk is real or arranged. Some of them say that it is actually a ploy to trap the Democrats. However, to get the answer we have to wait for some more months.  
The writer is a former Commissioner of Taxes