Conflict between Elon Musk and Donald Trump: Impacts on Tesla

Escalation in Washington Conflict Between Trump and Musk Harms Tesla

2025-06-10 Source: dpa | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

The alliance between Elon Musk and Donald Trump seems to end in an open mudslinging match, as dpa (Germany press agency) has learned.

The recently erupted conflict between US President Donald Trump and his supporter Elon Musk is getting increasingly dirty, as recent posts on X suggest. Trump threatened Musk with financial consequences concerning Tesla. The impact on Tesla's stock was immediate...(Image: AP) — The recently erupted conflict between US President Donald Trump and his supporter Elon Musk is getting increasingly dirty, as recent posts on X suggest. Trump threatened Musk with financial consequences concerning Tesla. The impact on Tesla's stock was immediate...
(Image: AP)

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, rants against the president of the most powerful country named the USA. The tech billionaire even went so far as to challenge Trump's leadership in the Republican Party. The US president then threatened to withdraw government contracts from Musk's companies. Musk countered that he would withhold the currently indispensable Dragon capsules of his company SpaceX from NASA. The dispute between Musk and Trump ignited around the tax and budget law advanced by the president. Musk, who until recently was tasked by Trump with radically cutting government spending, is demanding far greater spending cuts. In recent days, the Tesla founder (after his withdrawal from Washington) intensified his attacks on the law and directly targeted the Trump administration.

Trump should be removed from office

Trump was first publicly addressed about the controversy during the german Chancellor Friedrich Merz's (CDU) inaugural visit to the White House. The US President merely suggested that Musk was driven by business interests. Musk had no problem with the law until he found out that it would also mean a reduction in billions in subsidies for electric vehicles. Musk, in turn, described this statement as a lie. As part of the dispute, Musk also pointed out that he would still be around for decades, but that Trump was old and would only have something to say in this presidential round at most. He admitted that he had actively supported the election campaign. The Tesla boss then probably dropped a bombshell: He claimed that Trump's name can be found in documents relating to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The tech billionaire also circulated a post on X with a narrow yes, in which he wrote that Trump must be removed from office. Trump, in turn, threatened financial consequences for Musk's company.

The Tesla Stock Plummets

The escalated dispute between Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump, especially Trump's announcement not to support Tesla anymore, sent Tesla's stock into a downward spiral. The shares of the Musk-led electric car manufacturer lost over 14 percent in value during US trading. After-hours, the price stabilized and gained one percent again. The news agency Bloomberg estimates that Musk's fortune consequently fell by nearly 34 billion dollars in one day to 335 billion dollars (about 293 billion euros).

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