President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are in the middle of a spectacular and tawdry breakup that has the world riveted.
Here’s a history of their rise and fall as best buds.
Don and Elon: The Union Begins
The Trump-Musk coupling began in earnest in July 2024, about four months before that year’s presidential election. On July 13, minutes after an attempted assassination on Trump, Musk stopped dancing around his yearslong march to the MAGA right and officially endorsed Trump’s campaign.
The shotgun wedding happened at lightning speed, as Musk began throwing out millions of dollars to back Trump and sent millions more to his political action committee and other more underhanded vehicles to support Trump in the election.
Musk could not contain his joy at joining the MAGA movement and even bounced across the stage at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, launching thousands of mocking memes.
The DOGE Honeymoon
After Trump won the election, both men were over the moon and wanted everyone to know about it. Trump quickly announced that Musk would get to head his Department of Government Efficiency and would effectively be allowed to do whatever he wanted, without any real oversight or ethics constraints.
In January, Musk attracted an early round of criticism when he offered Up to Nazi Salute at ceremonies commemorating Trump’s first day in office. That foreshadowed the months of chaos he and Trump would soon find themselves enmeshed in.
Still, Trump began fulfilling his part of the deal and pulled back government resources investigating Musk’s constellation of businesses.
Musk vs. Trump: First Shots Fired
Cracks began to emerge in the bromance around the time of Trump’s inauguration. Both men have long track records of wanting to be seen as the so-called alpha male, the guy in charge of things. But as Trump began to allow Musk and DOGE to do as they wished with an array of federal agencies, the president’s team bristled at reporting and rumors that hinted that Musk was really in charge or was something of a co-president.
From the outside, Americans were now making it clear they didn’t like the direction in which Trump and Musk were attempting to take the country. In February, one prankster broke into the video system at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and broadcast an AI-generated video of Trump sucking on Musk’s toes, with superimposed text reading, “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING.”
Early polling started to show that Musk was a liability for Trump. As Trump’s second try at the presidency kicked off, his “first buddy” already had underwater approval ratings. Trump would soon join him there.
Musk and Trump Hold Hands Against the World
The two men continued to put up a brave, joint front despite the slings and arrows directed their way. As Musk danced onstage with a chainsaw at a conservative conference in February to demonstrate his support of Trump and hatred for government services, Trump was rewarding Musk’s companies for their boss’ loyalty.
Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet company, was suddenly in the running for billions in government contracts, further entwining Musk’s considerable fortune with taxpayer dollars—even as he claimed he was cutting wasteful spending.
There was a bit of an awkward moment at Trump’s joint address to Congress in March. The president slammed “unelected bureaucrats” in Washington … as Musk looked on admiringly from the audience as Trump’s invited guest to the event.
While pushing DOGE to destabilize the government, Musk continued to make pro-Trump gestures. His America PAC spent $1 million on ads praising Trump for doing a great job. It’s like a bouquet of roses, just much more expensive.
Toward the end of February, Musk got to sit in on Trump’s Cabinet meeting. After protests against DOGE began to crush Tesla’s stock price, Trump staged a sales pitch for Tesla in front of the White House.
Musk and Trump Hit a Rough Patch
Then things went sour, and they went sour quickly.
In early March, Musk reportedly had a fight with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a White House meeting, and complained that Rubio hadn’t fired enough people. Rubio also apparently didn’t like that, via DOGE, Musk had fired officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which handles most of the government’s foreign aid and is under the State Department’s jurisdiction.
Musk’s actions at USAID also generated bad headlines for Trump after it was determined that key aid, food, and medicine was being denied to desperate people across the world.
Musk, riding high after his millions helped Trump win an election, appeared to believe he had a magic touch, so he spent over $20 million to elect the conservative candidate for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court seat. However, Democrats successfully pointed out the role of the unpopular billionaire interfering in state business, and in April, liberal candidate Susan Crawford easily won.
After that public face-plant, reports emerged that Trump was seeking an exit for Musk. The widely reported loss in Wisconsin clearly ran counter to the image Trump has tried to build up for himself as a winner.
Awkward.
Knives Out
In April, Musk said White House trade advisor Peter Navarro was a “moron” after Navarro slammed Musk for criticizing Trump’s failing tariff policy. That same month, Trump reportedly banned Musk from attending a meeting at the Pentagon on China policy. According to an official quoted by AxiosTrump said, “What the fuck is Elon doing there? Make sure he doesn’t go.”
Musk benefitted immensely from Trump’s first 100 days in office, getting government oversight off his back and inserting his influence into the federal government. But the writing was on the wall.
Last Friday, Trump ceremonially handed Musk a golden key, and the two men declared that Musk’s time in government was over (even as DOGE continues to wreak havoc).
This was around the time Musk first announced his opposition to Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” complaining that it doesn’t hurt the middle-class and poor people enough. And he only ramped it up after that.
War
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said on Thursday as the breakup went global.
On the same day, Musk said Trump lied about showing him the legislation before it went to Congress. Then he accused Trump’s administration of covering up government files around convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein because Trump appeared in them. Musk also argued that Trump would have lost the election without his financial help.
Caught in the crossfire were figures like Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who have tied themselves to Trump’s political fortunes but want the millions that Musk can provide as well as the pro-Republican messages that are amplified on X, formerly Twitter.
Fox News, Trump’s eternal cheerleader, isn’t handling the breakup well.
On Thursday night, Fox News host Sean Hannity lamented how the media is covering the clash of the “two titans” and urged the men to reunite.
“The rift between these two men, I’ll be the first to say, it’s sad, it’s unfortunate,” Hannity said.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham lamented that “megabillionaires” can “get their feelings hurt” and counseled both men to reconcile their differences, sounding more like a marriage counselor than a political pundit.
Meanwhile, the hosts of Fox & Friends seemed to largely take Trump’s side in the divorce. Co-host Brian Kilmeade compared Musk’s comments to getting drunk and lashing out at a romantic partner.
Democrats Point and Laugh
Democrats could not contain their enjoyment at the very public feud.
“So I heard Republicans are confused and waiting for Jerry Springer to tell them who their daddy is before any legislation can move! Is Elon their daddy or Trump?” Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas asked.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois, noted“And some say women are too emotional for positions of leadership,” followed by an eye-rolling emoji.
Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said“Breakups are hard, especially when they play out in the public sphere.”
Asked by reporters to react to the meltdown, New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez replied“The girls are fighting, aren’t they?”
They sure are.
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