What will happen next for Elon Musk and Donald Trump after their huge argument online
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Image
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Elon Musk and Donald Trump's feud continues to unfold - but what happens when the world's richest person, and most powerful politician, have a public spat?
The world is watching on in anticipation as to whatever is coming next, in the battle between Musk and Trump.
It's safe to say that the pair would no longer consider each other friends, despite the president just months ago bringing the tech mogul in to head up his Department of Government Efficiency.
The disagreement comes after the creation of Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' - which is pretty hefty, coming in at over 1000 pages.
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It includes extended tax cuts for American citizens, added requirements for federal benefits eligibility, an increase to the national debt ceiling, and more (via the BBC).
But Musk has branded the bill as a 'disgusting abomination', after noting that it will increase the 'already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion'.
So what exactly happens when two of the richest and most powerful people on the entire planet, suddenly hate each other?
One of the main focal points of the feud has been SpaceX, which Musk founded in 2002, but has helped NASA out a great deal.
The majority of the SpaceX is funded by federal government funding, but Trump has now threatened these business dealings.
For context, SpaceX's Dragon capsule has been solely responsible for taking astronauts to and from the NASA space station, taking up to four people per trip.
But Trump has threatened his business dealing, which Musk would most definitely feel the blow from.
Reports have suggested that Tesla's stock price already plunged by 14 percent just yesterday (5 June), with Trump set to slash tax credits on electric vehicles.
But it's not exactly a one-way street.
Musk's Dragon capsule is currently the only way that Trump can send American astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station.
Musk threatened to decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft 'immediately', but u-turned five hours later after one of his followers told him to 'cool off', tweeting: "Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon."
Dan Grazier, senior fellow and program director at national security think tank the Stimson Center, told NPR: "While their political partnership appears to be at an end, it is difficult to imagine the government canceling SpaceX contracts anytime soon.
"It will be some time before any of the company's competitors will be able to take up the slack, so it looks like the president and the tech mogul will have to find a way to get along."
The tech mogul has also called for Trump's impeachment - and given how influential his sway was in the election, it could be bad news for Trump.
With Musk's vast resources, it has been speculated Musk could back anti-Trump candidates in next year's elections and primaries.
But he appears to have alienated many people in the Republican party.
Rep Greg Murphy of North Carolina said: "This is absolutely childish and ridiculous. Enough of this nonsense."
Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey said: "Nobody elected Elon Musk, and a whole lot of people don't even like him, to be honest with you, even on both sides."
Musk even dropped a 'really big bomb' on the president, as he took to his platform X, to claim that Trump allegedly appears in unreleased files related to late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein - without evidence.
Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of the feud: "This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted."
And while no one can be sure how the feud will escalate, one thing is for sure - millions of eyes will be there to watch it unfold.