In just one week, the relationship between U.S. President Donald Trump and the world's richest man Elon Musk has undergone a stunning reversal from "White House ally" to "social media arch-enemy." This dispute, which began over policy differences, quickly escalated into a public feud filled with personal attacks and business threats within 48 hours, causing market jitters.

Last week, the two were even standing side by side in the White House's iconic Oval Office, where Trump warmly declared that they had "lasting friendship."

However, this "friendship" was completely shattered on Thursday (June 5). Both sides engaged in a real-time feud on the social media platform X, with their words filled with sarcasm, insults, and even threats.

The public rift began this Tuesday when Musk publicly criticized Trump's "Big and Beautiful Act" on his owned X platform, calling it a "repulsive and ugly move." He claimed that if the bill passed, it would "destroy America's finances." This sharp criticism was seen as a direct challenge to Trump's core policy agenda.

Trump called the billionaire "insane" and threatened to cancel federal contracts for his company. Musk retaliated by threatening to retire SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which is crucial for supporting the International Space Station. Tesla's stock plummeted as a result.

As an audience member watching from the front row, International Financial News Digest has compiled a timeline of their breakup.

Eastern Time 10:37 AM

Musk kicked off his X activity on Thursday by retweeting a report from The Babylon Bee, a satirical Christian news website. The title read: Congress Warns Spending Bill Could Destroy Nation.

Eastern Time 11:20 AM

Musk directly criticized Trump by retweeting a tweet from 2013 where Trump criticized Republicans for raising the debt ceiling. "That makes a lot of sense," Musk commented.

Eastern Time 11:46 AM

Musk retweeted another message from Trump dating back to 2012, stating that any member of Congress should not be re-elected if the budget is unbalanced.

At noon, Trump began responding to Musk's criticism. "Elon is upset because we accepted the electric vehicle mandate, you know, which is a huge amount of money for electric vehicles," he said. "They are crippling the electric vehicle industry and want us to pay billions in subsidies. And Elon knew all of this from the beginning."

He then said that Musk understands how the bill works internally. He stated that he and Musk have a good relationship - but it might already be over.

"I am very disappointed in Elon. I helped him a lot."

Eastern Time 12:11 PM

Musk paused his criticism to praise the president's decision to cut funding for California's high-speed rail project, calling it a wise move.

However, eight minutes later, Musk seemed to immediately respond to Trump's claim about the electric vehicle mandate: "Whatever." The Tesla CEO stated that he agreed to keep the electric vehicle subsidy in the bill, but noted that oil and gas subsidies remained unaffected ("which is extremely unfair!!"). He also criticized the "political baggage" in the bill.

Eastern Time 12:25 PM

Then, posts kept coming. Musk said he had never seen the bill.

Eastern Time 12:46 PM

Musk replied to an X user, Autism Capital, who praised his role in the election, saying that without him, Trump would have lost and the Democrats would have controlled the House. He then added: "Thankless indeed."

Eastern Time 1:37 PM

Musk retweeted a post from an X user named Wall Street Mav, who expressed hope that this dispute would not damage the billionaire's relationship with Trump.

Musk immediately followed up by posting a video of Trump praising Tesla at the White House. "Remember this?" Musk @'ed Trump.

Eastern Time 2:37 PM

Trump joined the debate on his Truth Social platform. He said he asked the billionaire to leave (the government), and Musk was "insane."

The president then issued a major threat to the billionaire's businesses. He said the simplest way to save money was to cut government contracts for Musk's companies. According to Bloomberg Government data, since the 2000 fiscal year, SpaceX and Tesla have received a total of $22.5 billion in revenue from federal non-classified contracts.

Eastern Time 2:48 PM

Musk responded to Trump's post: "This is a lie. Sad."

He then retweeted a tweet implying that terminating government contracts would lead to the dissolution of the International Space Station, accompanied by a smiley face. "Come on, give me something to smile about..." he said.

Eastern Time 3:10 PM

Musk said it was time to drop a "real bombshell," hinting that Trump refused to disclose documents related to the notorious financier Jeffrey Epstein because the president himself was involved.

Eastern Time 4:09 PM

Musk then issued a threat, stating that he would retire SpaceX's "Dragon" spacecraft, which is responsible for transporting goods and personnel to the International Space Station for the United States.

As the argument continued into the afternoon, Tesla's stock price plummeted, and investors panicked about both Tesla and the X platform.

Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Inc. urged someone to take Musk's phone away. By the close of trading, Tesla's stock had fallen 14%, marking its largest decline since March.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7512623220348944948/

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