Hello there! Did you know that tech billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump were once friends, but now they’re being a little weird with one another? It’s a wild development in their friendship, and today I’ll tell you all about it—in a way that’s fun, relatable, and easy to swallow.
It all began with electric cars
Let us go a bit back. Trump and Musk were the closest of buddies when Trump came back to the presidency for his second term. Musk was one of Trump’s most ardent allies—and even a special government worker—during Trump’s time in office. But their romance started to disintegrate when Trump clashed with something that mattered deeply to Musk: the electric cars’ future.
See, Trump just dismantled a federal policy—a waiver—that allowed California to prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. He reversed the state’s plans to go to 80% electric vehicle sales and stricter emissions standards. Naturally, this put him squarely at odds with Musk, whose companies—Tesla and SpaceX—exist solely in a clean-energy-fueled future.
The watershed moment: “He got a little strange”
Trump’s watershed moment was when Musk failed to raise his grievances in plain words. Trump explained to the press that when he signed into law the bill prohibiting California’s electric car plans, he was surprised that Musk remained mute.
“It surprised me that a friend—someone I endorsed and teamed up with—said nothing against it. That’s when things started to get strange between us, about much smaller things afterwards.”
That was important because previously, the two were fine—Musk was a significant counselor, a pal, someone Trump valued.
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From partners to foes
Trump and Musk were a powerful duo for a period. They worked together during Trump’s early time in office. Musk was given a special role in the government (unpaid) to cut waste and help with streamlining operations. He teamed up with Trump at a UFC event with Dana White, stood by him during hard policy battles, and seemed to be a significant buddy inside the White House.
But then things went wrong.
Why did it all go south?
Others have indicated it was policy—the reversing of electric vehicle plans—that broke their relationship. Others have indicated it was more personal—Trump was angry when Musk did not back him in a moment of crisis. Also, reports suggest that Musk tried to link Trump to the sex scandal-entangled Jeffrey Epstein and denounced the tariff plans as perilous to the future to the former President.
Final thoughts
And there you have it! The story of an unlikely friendship. Trump and Musk had transitioned from being best buddies to political adversaries — all because of differences in policy, quiet at the most critical moments, and high-stakes tension between two giants. Whatever comes next, their friendship is definitely a soap-operatic twist in the story of both their lives.
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