WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 11: U.S. President Donald Trump and White House Senior Advisor, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sit in a Model S on the South Lawn of the White House on March 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump spoke out against calls for a boycott of Elon Musk’s companies and said he would purchase a Tesla vehicle in what he calls a ‘show of confidence and support’ for Elon Musk. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Washington D.C. – In a country reeling from record heat, street-level unrest, and deepening political dysfunction, two of its most powerful figures — one a billionaire tech mogul, the other a twice-elected and twice-impeached president — are locked in a public feud that’s equal parts performance, power struggle, and policy fight. On Tuesday, the latest chapter of that standoff sent Tesla’s stock sliding nearly 5%.
The spark? A midnight social media post from President Donald Trump calling for an investigation into government subsidies received by Elon Musk’s companies. “Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
Trump was referring to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a bureaucratic experiment once chaired by Musk himself before he resigned in May. The agency’s name, an in-joke referencing the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin, has taken on new meaning in the middle of this very public rift.
Musk, for his part, hit back quickly — not with defense, but escalation. “I am literally saying CUT IT ALL,” he posted on X, the social platform he owns. The tech CEO has grown increasingly critical of Trump’s domestic spending bill, a sweeping tax-and-cuts package that would slash support for green energy and EV manufacturing — areas central to Musk’s empire.
The feud has intensified as Musk calls for what he dubs a new “America Party,” breaking from both Democrats and Republicans. “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” he wrote to his 220 million followers. By nightfall, Musk had begun singling out Republican lawmakers and pledging to back their primary challengers — including members of the very Freedom Caucus whose budget-slashing ideology he once appeared to support.
It’s a striking reversal from 2024, when Musk stood alongside Trump at campaign stops and poured nearly $300 million into Republican races. Now, Musk is threatening to dismantle the very coalition he helped finance.
Yet it’s not clear how far this will go. Creating a third party is a monumental task. For now, Musk’s movement exists mostly in polls and hashtags.
Still, the fight carries real consequences. Tesla’s share price has been whiplashed by Musk’s political posturing before, and federal funding remains crucial for ventures like SpaceX and Starlink. Trump’s threat to those subsidies is more than personal — it’s strategic. For all the noise, the stakes are concrete: billions in contracts, entire industries, and a public increasingly caught in the crossfire of ego-driven governance.
