Timeline of a breakdown: Musk turns on Trump over spending bill

The alliance between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk has fractured dramatically over Trump’s proposed “big, beautiful bill.” What began as a policy disagreement has escalated into personal attacks, political backlash, and a sharp decline in Tesla’s stock. The following timeline outlines how the feud unfolded.

May 27 – Musk criticizes spending bill on CBS News
In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Elon Musk voiced disappointment over the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a sweeping domestic policy package backed by President Trump and House Republicans. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion over the next decade.

“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said. “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both.”

May 28 – Musk ends his formal role in Trump administration
One day after criticizing Trump’s spending bill, Elon Musk announces the conclusion of his term as a Special Government Employee at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President Donald Trump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said in a post on X.

May 30 – White House press conference and NYT report
Trump and Musk appear together at the White House to mark the end of Musk’s tenure in government. Musk appears with a visible bruise under his right eye, drawing significant media attention.

The press conference comes just hours after The New York Times publishes a report alleging Musk’s drug use while serving in the administration.

June 1 – Trump withdraws NASA nomination
Trump announces he is withdrawing Jared Isaacman—an associate of Elon Musk—as his nominee to lead NASA. In a social media post, the president cites a “thorough review” of Isaacman’s “prior associations” as the reason for the decision.

June 3 and 4 – Musk unleashes criticism on X
Musk escalates his attacks on the spending bill in a series of posts, calling it a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill” and a “disgusting abomination” that would push the deficit to $2.5 trillion. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,” he wrote, urging Americans to “fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.”

On June 4, Musk warns: “If the massive deficit spending continues, there will only be money for interest payments and nothing else—no Social Security, no medical, no defense… nothing. This is debt slavery for the American people.”

He follows with a call to action: “Call your Senator, call your Congressman, bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL,” attaching an image of the Kill Bill movie poster. He then refers to the legislation as the “Debt Slavery Bill,” arguing it nullifies all cost-saving gains achieved by the DOGE team. Musk begins retweeting posts linking Trump directly to the bill.

June 5 – Trump responds in Oval Office meeting
During an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, President Trump publicly addresses the growing controversy with Musk. He suggests the feud stems from Musk’s frustration over the removal of electric vehicle subsidies in the spending bill.

“You know Elon’s upset because we took the EV mandate, which—you know—it was a lot of money for electric vehicles,” Trump said.

“He wanted and rightfully recommended somebody that he, I guess, knew very really well to run NASA, and I didn’t think it was appropriate,” Trump added. “He wanted that person, and we said no. I can understand why he was upset.”

Trump described a cordial relationship up to that point, even joking about Musk’s visible black eye during their recent meeting: “Elon was very happy behind the Oval desk, even with the black eye. I said, ‘You want a little makeup?’ and he said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”

He added: “Elon endorsed me very strongly—he actually campaigned for me. I think I would have won Pennsylvania easily anyway… but I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill. All of a sudden, he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out we had to cut the EV mandate.”

Trump concluded with a pointed remark: “He said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn’t said bad about me personally—but I’m sure that will be next. I helped Elon a lot. Some people leave my administration and miss it. Others become hostile. It’s sort of Trump deranged syndrome, I guess they call it.”

June 5 – Musk fires back on X
Elon Musk escalates the feud with a series of posts on X, beginning with a retweet of a 2013 message from Donald Trump criticizing Republicans for raising the debt ceiling. Musk adds a pointed caption: “Wise words.”

He follows up with a post referencing Trump’s proposed legislation: “Slim Beautiful Bill for the win .”

In direct response to Trump’s remarks during the Oval Office meeting, Musk writes: “False. This bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” He adds: “And the big, ugly spending bill will make things much worse.”

Musk continues by resurfacing several of Trump’s past posts about the debt ceiling, captioning them with: “Where is the man who wrote these words? Was he replaced by a body double!?”

He then posts a poll asking whether it’s time to create a new political party “that actually represents the 80% in the middle.”

Shortly afterward, Trump responds on social media: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”

June 5 – Musk accuses Trump of Epstein ties
Musk escalates the conflict to a new level by accusing Trump of being implicated in the Epstein files. “Time to drop the really big bomb: Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk writes on X, followed by additional posts referencing Trump’s alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk said in a separate post.

He also replies “Yes” to a post suggesting Trump should be impeached and replaced by Senator J.D. Vance.

At market close, Tesla shares fell more than 14%, wiping out billions in market value. The decline adds to the company’s mounting year-to-date losses since Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration.