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Musk calls for Trump to be IMPEACHED & goes on wild Epstein rant after Don branded Elon ‘crazy’ as feud explodes
The president also threatened to cancel all of Musk's federal contracts as the public falling out escalated
PRESIDENT Donald Trump and Elon Musk's relationship has publicly crashed and burned as the two former allies exchanged blows on social media.
The feud erupted after Trump addressed Musk's criticism of the president's "big beautiful bill" in the Oval Office.
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But it dramatically escalated on Thursday when the Tesla mogul called for the president's impeachment and made unfounded allegations about Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The feud started three days ago when Musk began fuming over the president's signature spending legislation that's currently making its way through Congress.
It came to a head when the president was quizzed about the bill in the Oval Office on Thursday, prompting Musk to reply in real time on X.
Musk's furious responses snowballed into a barrage of attacks on the president, culminating with the X owner suggesting Trump should be impeached and replaced by Vice President JD Vance in another post.
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Musk reposted a tweet from an X user who , "President vs Elon. Who wins? My money's on Elon. Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him."
Musk gave a one-word affirmation when he replied, "Yes."
The call came moments after the tech mogul claimed Trump refuses to release the infamous Epstein files because his name is in them.
"Time to drop the really big bomb: [Trump] is in the Epstein files," Musk .
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"That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!"
He later added, "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."
Elon Musk blasts Donald Trump’s ‘disgusting’ tax and spending bill in wild rant
There's no evidence that Trump had any involvement in Epstein's crimes.
The president has also denounced any association with the twisted financier's sex abuse, although the two had a long-documented personal relationship.
After AI-generated images went viral last year showing Trump on Epstein's island, the president said he never went to the disgraced financier's "stupid island".
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also dismissed Musk's comments on Thursday night.
In a statement, she said, "This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill [a Republican tax and spending bill] because it does not include the policies he wanted.
"The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again."
OVAL OFFICE FACE-OFF
Trump has defended the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's "historic" $1.6 trillion in spending cuts since the House passed it in May.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill will add $3 trillion to the national deficit, which Musk has latched on to in his attacks on Trump.
How the Trump-Musk relationship crumbled in a day
Elon Musk and Donald Trump spent the day trading barbs over social media, with the Tesla owner calling for Trump's impeachment and the president calling for the government to end all federal contracts with Musk's companies. Here's how it went down:
- On Tuesday, Musk tweeted that Trump's signature spending "big beautiful" spending bill was a "disgusting abomination" that would add billions to the federal deficit
- On Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump addressed Musk's criticism of the bill by accusing Musk of trying to kill it because the bill ends federal subsidies for electric vehicles, which would cost Musk's company Tesla significant profits
- Musk responded by live-posting on X as Trump spoke, initially shrugging off the president's assessment with an unbothered "Whatever," before tearing into the bill's other spending provisions
- Trump escalated the feud after the Oval Office meeting with multiple posts on Truth Social, saying he told Musk to leave the White House instead of continuing to work with Doge and threatening to dump Musk's federal contracts, which are worth billions
- Musk fired back on X by saying he was "decommissioning" the Dragon spacecraft made by SpaceX that brought the stranded Nasa astronauts back from the International Space Station in March
- Musk also escalated the war of words by reposting and replying "Yes" to a tweet claiming that Trump should be impeached and replaced by Vice President JD Vance
- Musk further fanned the flames by claiming that Trump is named in the infamous "Epstein files" and making unfounded accusations that its the reason they haven't been released to the public.
On Thursday, Trump answered questions alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office when he was confronted with questions about the "big beautiful bill."
"We are doing things in that bill that are unbelievable," the president said.
When asked about Musk's criticism, the president revealed that the two had been at odds ever since Musk stepped down as head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” he said.
'HE JUST WENT CRAZY'
In the Oval Office, Trump claimed Musk was really criticizing the bill because he was outraged over the president's decision to step away from a national electric vehicle mandate.
Musk wanted the federal government to go all in on EVs because it would mean a windfall of money for his company, Trump claimed.
"You know they're having a hard time, the electric vehicles," he said.
"And they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidies."
Trump later wrote on Truth Social that Elon was "wearing thin" and that the president had to ask him to leave.
"I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!"
'WHATEVER'
While Trump celebrated his latest White House win, Musk unloaded his true thoughts on the legislation in a flurry of live posts on X.
"Whatever," said the billionaire.
"Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill," he wrote.
"In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this!
"Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way."
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FEUD ESCALATES
The president said it was always his intention to relax the mandates, as he pushes to use America's natural gas and oil supply to achieve energy independence.
"Elon knew this from the beginning. He knew this from a long time ago," said Trump, who has touted his plan to "drill baby drill" for oil.
But Musk claimed that he never actually saw the bill and said it "passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it."
However, Trump reminded reporters that Musk had proudly worn a hat with the words "Trump was right about everything" emblazoned on the front.
"And I am right about the great big beautiful bill," the president said.
"He knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it.
"All of a sudden, he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we're gonna have to cut the EV mandate because that's billions and billions of dollars."
Later, the president added on Truth Social, "I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago."
He said, "I didn’t create this mess, I’m just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness."
MUSK TAKES CREDIT FOR TRUMP WIN
Musk continued the broadsides against Trump by claiming credit for his victory over Kamala Harris in November.
In a searing reply, Musk said, "Without me, Trump would have lost the election."
"Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.
"Such ingratitude."
Before Musk's outburst, Trump said his ex-colleague "hasn't said anything bad about me personally," but quickly speculated, "I'm sure that'll be next."
"I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot," he said.
CUTTING CONTRACTS
Trump later threatened to cut Musk's government contracts by saying it would save a lot of money.
"The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts," Trump said.
"I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!"
Musk and his businesses are estimated to have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits, according to a .
Musk responded to Trump's threats with a threat of his own.
"In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts,@SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately," he said.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was the one that brought stranded astronauts back to Earth safely after 268 days stuck in space back in March.
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TRUMP'S EV CUTS
In his spending bill, Trump proposed steep cuts to tax credits that were designed to incentivize consumers to buy EVs.
The shift came after President Joe Biden heavily pushed for regulations that effectively forced American car companies to build electric cars.
Car buyers can currently receive up to $7,500 in tax breaks if they purchase an EV, but this would be phased out by 2026 under Trump's plan.
Consumers can also receive a tax credit worth up to $4,000 for buying a used EV under the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, but that's set to be erased by the end of this year.
Trump's legislation is calling for EV owners to pay a $250 annual fee imposed by the Federal Highway Administration.
This is meant to make up for the loss in gas taxes paid by drivers of gas-powered cars.
Before the spending bill was passed, Musk turned the White House lawn into a makeshift Tesla dealership so Trump could shop for cars.
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The duo posed for pictures and inspected the interiors before the president decided to buy a flashy red Model S.
In the middle of Thursday's tiff, Musk reposted a video from that day with the message, "Remember this?"
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