This is definitely not any other street fight. Its a face-off between the world’s most powerful President and the richest man in the world – both residents of the same country. When the fight involves such powerful people, the internet can definitely not look away.
Well until a few days ago, Trump and Musk were buddies. It all started the day Musk said goodbye to DOGE. The very Gen X sounding Department of Government Efficiency, which came to be via “another” executive order, was tasked with cutting down on government spending, considerably.
When came eye-to-eye with the US justice system, DOGE’s dubious scope of work could not stand the legal test. Not overlooking the fact that set saving targets were hardly met.
Parting off with smiles and praising each other at the farewell press talk at the White House, no one knew that both the giants will quickly ascend into a war of words. Yet here it is! An open spat, spiraling quickly; so much so that Musk has suggested Trump should be impeached. Oops!
Time to drop the really big bomb:@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.
Have a nice day, DJT!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
You must be close to guessing what Trump said; very similar to what he said about Putin days back. Yes, “went crazy” were Trump’s words for Elon Musk. But obviously he didn’t just stop at that. In his casual style, Trump shifted the whole controversy that started with Musk’s disagreement over a tax bill.
“ I’ll be honest, I think he misses the place,” Trump said. “ It’s sort of Trump derangement syndrome. We have it with others, too. They leave, and they wake up in the morning, and the glamour’s gone. The whole world is different, and they become hostile.”
In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately pic.twitter.com/NG9sijjkgW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
Trump says that he asked Musk to leave the White House while Musk reminds the President that he is the White House because of his support. Musk has even put a public poll on his X account giving people a yes or no choice saying: “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?”
As the threats get more serious, analysts observe that there are serious stakes if Donald Trump and Elon Musk totally fall apart. For now, the world watches — and laughs — as two of its loudest voices go head-to-head in a very public, very strange showdown.
The Diplomatic Insight is a digital and print magazine focusing on diplomacy, defense, and development publishing since 2009.
