Two very rich and very powerful and very big American egos have had a very public and very loud cat fight.

US President Donald Trump, arguably the single most powerful politician in the world, and his now former “buddy-in-chief” Elon Musk, certifiably the single richest oligarch on (for now) this planet, have “torched” (Wall Street Journal) their occasionally exuberant bromance of almost a year in a “stunning” (Bloomberg) and “spectacular” (New York Times) finale of fiery mutual recrimination. Say what you will about oligarchic techno-capitalism, but it can be entertaining.

Using their own social media platforms, Musk and Trump have gone after each other with brutal reputational attacks, griping of the “You owe me!” – “No, you me!” variant, and high-value threats to do each other economic and political damage.

The key trigger for the blow-up was what Trump calls his “Big Beautiful Bill,” which is currently making its way through Congress. For, Musk – despite his lucrative government contracts a deficit hawk, whose own DOGE cost-cutting effort has just frustratingly failed – the same tax bill is a “disgusting abomination.” Musk claims that he is greatly concerned over America’s exploding and unsustainable national debt. Since Trump’s Republican majority in the Senate is small, Musk’s open support for the bill’s vocal opponents........

© RT.com