Before leaving, Musk attended a farewell party at the White House.

According to sources familiar with the matter, a private confrontation that took place in the Oval Office and was unknown to the outside world might have been the real trigger that pushed the conflict between Trump and Musk to a boiling point.

The incident occurred a week ago on May 30th. The White House held a public and seemingly friendly farewell party for Musk, who was about to leave his position as a White House advisor. However, a confrontation was brewing privately.

In front of their "arch-enemy"

Musk was "lectured" by Trump with documents

Reportedly, the core of the conflict was the nomination of NASA's administrator. Musk had strongly recommended his close friend Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur who had traveled into space twice aboard SpaceX rockets.

Minutes before the farewell party, an assistant handed Trump a file detailing Isaacman's records of political donations to several Democratic candidates in recent years. Suppressing his anger, Trump勉强 completed a warm and respectful public farewell.

The truly dramatic moment happened after the media left. As soon as the cameras were gone from the Oval Office, Trump confronted Musk in front of other officials using the donation file. He loudly read out the donation records, shaking his head and saying, "This is not good."

At the farewell party, Musk had a bruise under his eye

As described, Musk, who still had a bruise under his eye (which he claimed was caused by playing with his young son), attempted to defend his friend, stating that Isaacman was concerned with "getting things done," and hiring him would demonstrate Trump's willingness to hire people from all walks of life. Musk said, "Maybe this is a good thing; it shows you're willing to hire different kinds of people."

However, Trump remained unmoved. He said, "People like this will betray us in the end; they are not beneficial to us."

Musk was almost speechless and did not defend his friend; he appeared very anxious. What particularly pressured him was that the White House Director of Presidential Personnel Office, Gore, who had long-standing conflicts with him, was present. It was reported that Musk had planned to leave the White House relatively peacefully, but he felt humiliated that day.

Within just a few hours after the confrontation, the White House officially announced the withdrawal of Isaacman's nomination. According to sources, after Musk left the government, Gore proposed withdrawing Isaacman's nomination. During Musk's tenure at the Office of Government Efficiency, he had conflicts with Gore.

After enduring for six days, Speaker Johnson failed to calm Musk down

Musk finally "declared war" on Trump

After suffering this "nomination being quashed," Musk did not immediately erupt publicly. He flew to Missoula, Montana, to attend a high-end resort event called "seminar," hosted by Peter Thiel's "Founder Fund," which was organized for tech elites.

The report depicted his state during that weekend: at a luxurious ranch resort covering approximately 150 square kilometers, he engaged in extensive conversations with guests including Peter Thiel. A source familiar with the situation revealed that Thiel at the time had no sense that a dispute between Musk and Trump was imminent. Altman, Musk's rival and CEO of OpenAI, was also present but did not communicate with Musk, as they had been publicly at odds.

After spending a day in Montana, Musk began seriously directing his dissatisfaction towards Trump's top domestic priority: the bill that the Republicans were advancing in Congress. He began complaining privately and publicly, arguing that the massive spending outlined in the bill would offset all his efforts to reduce deficits during his tenure at the Office of Government Efficiency.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, via Getty Images

Republican leadership was not unaware of the unease. On May 2nd, local time, House Speaker Mike Johnson personally called Musk in an attempt to soothe his emotions and explain the bill. According to sources familiar with the matter, after the call, Johnson told colleagues that he believed Musk did not understand legislation and the congressional process, but he believed he had "made his case clear."

However, the appeasement clearly did not work. On the evening of May 2nd, Musk shared a chart showing the annual increase in national debt on X and accompanied it with the word: "horrible." Trump did not respond to Musk's criticism of the bill.

After several days of simmering tensions, the alliance finally collapsed. On May 5th, local time, six days after the friendly show in the Oval Office, Musk directed more of his anger at the U.S. president himself.

"You're crazy" "You're ungrateful"

Trump and Musk's "verbal war" erupted

According to reports by International Online, Musk posted a series of posts criticizing the large-scale tax and spending bill that Trump referred to as "big and beautiful," stating, "You either get a big and ugly bill or a small and beautiful one" "Small and beautiful is the way forward."

Trump and Musk

These remarks immediately drew sharp responses from Musk: "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," "Such ingratitude."

Trump was undeterred, retaliating that he could win without Musk. He even wrote in his post that he saw Musk "exhausted," nearly "insane," and that was why he let him go. Musk retorted, calling this "obviously a lie, pitiful indeed."

During the verbal spat, Musk threw out a series of explosive statements, including Trump's involvement in the Epstein files, supporting impeachment of the president, and predicting that Trump's tariff policies would lead to a recession by year-end.

In response, Trump issued his most substantive threat. "The simplest way to save billions in the budget is to terminate Musk's government subsidies and contracts. I'm surprised Biden didn't do that when he was president!" Trump wrote.

By the evening of May 5th, Musk expressed his willingness to ease the dispute, while Trump seemed less interested in immediate reconciliation. White House officials said that Trump had no plans to call Musk.

On May 6th, Trump continued to attack Musk. He publicly told the press, "He (Musk) has problems, this poor guy has problems, I won't talk to him for now, but I wish him well."

It was previously reported by some US media that the White House had arranged for Musk to speak with Trump on May 6th in hopes of easing tensions. A White House anonymous official denied the report on May 6th, stating, "The President does not plan to speak with Musk today."

Red Star News reporter Su Yi Deng, compiled by International Online, etc.

Editor Zhuang Guo, Editor Wei Kongming

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Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7513165989417288229/

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