Musk Blasts Trump, Reveals Surprising Ties to Epstein Scandal | Opinion
The feud between President Donald Trump and former first buddy Elon Musk erupted like a volcano of national schadenfreude June 5, moving swiftly from the president saying Musk has "Trump Derangement Syndrome" to Musk suggesting Trump is linked to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein .
By midday, Musk blasted the Epstein allegation at the man he helped win the presidency, posting on X : "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT !"
Oh my.
Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.
Why are Trump and Musk fighting? It started early.
The day began with Trump responding to Musk’s criticism of the “big, beautiful bill” that encapsulates Trump’s agenda and now moving through Congress.
“People leave my administration and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it and some of them actually become hostile,” Trump said, referring to Musk . “It’s sort of Trump Derangement Syndrome, I guess they call it. ... They leave, they wake up in the morning and the glamour is gone ... and they become hostile.”
To which Musk swiftly replied on X : “Whatever.”
Musk takes credit for Trump winning, calls out the president's 'ingratitude'
He later posted : "Without me, Trump would have lost the election."
Then added : "Such ingratitude"
Oh dear. As a Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferer myself, I know there’s no cure. I had heard the government was working on a vaccine, but Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presumably canceled those plans and instead suggested people drink a cocktail made of raw milk, vitamin D and horse-deworming paste.
“I’m very disappointed in Elon,” Trump said of the man who recently called Trump’s sprawling tax cut bill “a disgusting abomination.” “I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
Well, that Trump vs. Musk feud sure escalated quickly
As they went on, the vitriol between the two uniquely horrible men grew.
Musk tried to intimidate Republicans into taking his side by posting , "Oh and some food for thought as they ponder this question: Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years."
Trump took to his social media site – the fact that each of these self-aggrandizing dips has his own social media platform is reason enough to ban the internet – and said Musk "just went CRAZY!" He then posted : "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts."
Which may be the first good idea Trump has ever had.
Pretty soon we had arrived at the Epstein allegations, and that was presumably it for this fake friendship between bro-billionaires.
The Trump/Musk divorce was inevitable. Republicans got suckered in.
Seeing two former best buddies turn on each other is never easy, though in this case, it’s objectively hilarious.
The belief has been that Musk, who Trump pulled into government to slash-and-burn the federal workforce, leaving chaos in his wake , is upset the bill does away with tax incentives for electric vehicles.
But in his very emo response to Trump’s June 5 comments, Musk wrote : “Whatever. 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.”
The richest man in the world has moved from calling the bill a “disgusting abomination” to calling it a “MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK,” both of which are excellent names for a death-metal band but less-than-ideal names for a thing Republicans are trying desperately to pass.
What's a Republican to do? Side with Musk or side with Trump?
With Trump claiming Musk has TDS and Musk hitting Trump with a “Whatever,” GOP lawmakers in Congress are likely to be torn asunder by the magnetic pull of the two wildly powerful people. Do you cross the spiteful and vindictive president of the United States, or do you cross the spiteful and vindictive richest man in the world?
Because of my Trump Derangement Syndrome, this whole situation makes me almost unbearably happy, because Trump and the Republicans quite literally bought their way into a pending political catastrophe.
By accepting Musk’s many millions, Trump invited the wealthy weirdo into politics and the federal government, forcing Republicans and the MAGA faithful to embrace him like a demigod. Musk, in return, received billions of dollars in federal contracts and got to do myriad mean and hurtful things like wiping out federal aid to starving people, halting vital scientific research and robbing thousands of federal workers of their livelihoods.
DOGE was a failure and a con job. Republicans should see that now.
Musk overpromised and underdelivered on his work with the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency. He started out saying he’d cut something like $2 trillion, but DOGE claims to have only hit $175 billion in savings , and even that seems dodgy, as there’s little documentation to back up the savings claims.
The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, so that dramatically overrides any cuts DOGE made. The whole charade was useless and damaging.
And now? The deal Republicans made with the rocket-building devil is coming back to haunt them.
Fight! Fight! Fight! I'll sit back and enjoy watching Musk torture the GOP.
“Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump said . “I don't know if we will anymore.”
Whomp-whomp. As he has done with investors and anyone who deems him a genius, Musk duped Trump and the Republican Party. They thought they could harness a mercurial, self-obsessed little rich man and keep him in line.
Now that man has a bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome and can unleash his millions of devoted social media fans and at least a portion of the MAGA horde on the party that welcomed him in.
Pass the popcorn. This is going to be viscerally satisfying.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Musk erupts, claims Trump is in the Epstein files. Who could've seen this coming? | Opinion
Post a Comment