On April 2, 2025, I wrote the following:
“If there is a fallout between these two personalities, then watch out. The danger is that Trump gets rid of Musk and steps up his status as war criminal and chaos maker.”
I knew there was a high risk of a fallout between these two. It descended even faster than I could have imagined.
I wrote an article on June 4, 2025 about Musk coming out against the “big beautiful bill”. Sometimes I wait a few days to write and publish an article just to gain more perspective on the facts. Perhaps I should have waited with this article on Elon Musk. A lot happened right after I published it.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have several things in common. They also have some things that aren’t in common. Aside from being wealthy and well-known, they are both infamous for their use of social media. They like to post things, oftentimes without giving it a lot of thought.
After Elon publicly started criticizing the BBB, which he was right to do, things got personal very quickly. I have heard Trump say much worse things about people, but he still couldn’t resist going after Elon for attacking his BBB.
Bringing in the Epstein Files
The final icing on the cake was when Elon posted that the reason the Epstein files weren’t released is because Trump’s name is in them.
I thought this was a mistake by Musk. It makes it really tough to ever repair this relationship.
We already know that Trump knew Epstein. The question is whether Trump was actually involved in trafficking anyone or having a relationship with any underage girls. Just because Trump’s name is in the files doesn’t mean he necessarily did anything criminal or immoral.
If Elon is suggesting that Trump did do something immoral and criminal regarding Epstein, it kind of makes Elon look bad too because he had stayed quiet about it. So, if Trump had requested more DOGE cuts in legislation, Elon would have stayed quiet about Trump’s criminal behavior?
This is why this somewhat vague post was a mistake. It would have been best for Elon Musk to keep hammering away on government spending. It would have been even better if he had just kept going after government spending while ignoring any personal attacks from Trump.
But, these two can’t help themselves.
It has been reported that Musk has since deleted this particular post.
A good general rule in life is to wait to post or say something, especially when you are emotional. If you just give it 24 hours, you will gain a lot more clarity.
A Trump Nickname
Trump is known for giving his enemies nicknames. If his enemy ends up being an ally, then he will drop the nickname.
Lil’ Marco is now the Secretary of State. Remember Low-Energy Jeb and Lyin’ Ted Cruz? Of course, there is also Sleepy Joe and Crooked Hillary.
You have to wonder if Trump will come up with something for Elon. Maybe “Crazy Elon”. Maybe “Maniac Musk”.
The problem for Trump is that Elon is too much like himself. Elon will likely not stay quiet. He owns X (formerly Twitter). He has over 200 million followers. He also has the truth on his side when it comes to government spending and this bloated spending bill.
Trump may win this battle with a majority of his supporters, but you have to believe that some hardcore fiscal conservatives, along with some libertarians who loosely supported Trump, will side with Elon Musk on this issue. Even if it is just 10% of Trump supporters who side with Elon, that could mean a 5% drop in Trump’s approval ratings.
A Trump nickname might not have the same impact as what he has been able to inflict in the past.
Understanding Economics
The big difference here between Trump and Elon is that Elon understands basic economics. He understands that tariffs harm American consumers. He understands that we need a reduction in government in order for our economy to thrive.
I am giving Trump the benefit of the doubt here by saying that he is economically illiterate. If Trump does understand economics, then he is lying and doing great damage to the country for political or other reasons.
If Trump wanted to enact significant cuts to the budget, especially the waste and corruption exposed by DOGE, he could do so. If he made this a signature issue, it would force the hand of the Republicans in Congress, who are mostly awful people.
Clint Russell had a nice post about this situation.
I would just add that our lives could be so much better with a massive reduction in government spending. It’s not just about avoiding hyperinflation and/ or default. Our standard of living could be vastly better if we saw a significant reduction in government spending.
One other important point is that this isn’t just about balancing the budget. It is about the government consuming our resources. To paraphrase Ron Paul, I would rather an unbalanced budget with $1 trillion in total spending than a $6 trillion budget that is balanced.
Elon Musk, whatever you think of him, is trying to do a service for humanity by making this a big issue. He understands that we need to address government spending if any of us are going to prosper in the long run.