6 June 2025, 13:19

By Lewis Goodall

It had long been speculated that the divorce between Donald Trump and Elon Musk —when it came—would be bloody.

But few predicted it would be quite so fast, so public, and so spectacular. Within hours, an alliance that once appeared unshakable collapsed in full view. Only days ago, they were in the Oval Office praising each other — Musk calling Trump enormously helpful, Trump doing the same in return. But last night, Musk accused Trump of appearing in Jeffrey Epstein’s files, and Trump responded by threatening to strip Musk of government and federal contracts. Musk, for his part, shot back with a camp retort: “Be my guest — you’ll lose access to the International Space Station.”

The commercial impact for Musk was brutal, with Tesla’s value down $150 billion overnight. Politically, the fall-out is just as dramatic. This was a powerful alliance — built on convenience and shared utility. Musk has claimed Trump would not have won the 2024 election without him. That’s probably an exaggeration, but it’s true that Musk’s financial contributions — he was by far the largest political donor in 2024 — and his control over the algorithm on X (formerly Twitter) were hugely beneficial to Trump. The MAGA right was able to dominate the conversation like never before, amplified and platformed every hour of the day. Even those who don’t........

© LBC