Trump and Musk, the anatomy of a divorce: 'Elon and I had a great relationship, I don't know if we will anymore'

"Elon and I had a great relationship, I don’t know if we will anymore." These are the president's words that confirm his deep, swift and public break with the - until recently - First Buddy.

A break that surprised Donald Trump himself, according to his remarks in the Oval Office. "I'm very disappointed in Elon," he added. "I've helped Elon a lot."

While Musk's criticism has so far been limited to the administration's mega-bill, the Republican frontrunner did not rule out personal attacks to follow.

Between tweets and truths, accusations of having lost his mind, of showing "such ingratitude"... the owner of Tesla and SpaceX even accused Trump of being in the "Epstein files." "That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!"

Below, the sequence of the break-up between the most powerful man in the world and the richest:

Musk and Trump's 'divorce'

Less than a week ago, Trump and Musk closed with mutual praise the latter's stint as special adviser, heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). "Elon isn't really leaving," Trump would say, and Musk would respond, "I will continue to visit here and be a friend and advisor to the president."

Two days later, Musk gave an interview with a different tone: "I agree with much of what the Administration does, but we have differences of opinion. You know, there are things that I don’t entirely agree with." However, those disagreements, he assured, would be private: "I don’t want to, you know, speak up against the administration."

A sentiment that fizzled out in three days. "I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore," Musk posted on Thursday on X. On that occasion, he specified that the target of the discord was the Administration's budget proposal, known as the Big, Beautiful budget bill. In the South African's eyes, not so beautiful: "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination."

Although he had previously demonstrated his displeasure with the plan, it had been mostly in private. And, in public, never in such harsh words. Even less so as those that followed later.

"It is the Debt Slavery Bill," he wrote in another tweet. And in yet another: "Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL." And in another, "this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!" In others he even contrasted Trump with Trump, recalling his old words against the fiscal deficit:

Musk continued the barrage of tweets Thursday, also escalating his rhetoric. In response to a clip of Trump asserting that his anger was due to the elimination of benefits for electric vehicles - which would affect Musk as Tesla's owner - the former adviser dismissed the accusation:

"Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill."

Minutes later, he tweeted that Trump was showing "such ingratitude." Musk donated billions of dollars to the Republican presidential campaign, becoming the largest political donor in the country. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," he maintained.

As part of those campaign efforts, Musk established the America PAC. The PAC was behind key events in swing states and viral campaigns such as a million-dollar-a-day drawing among signers of a proposition. In recent hours, the Super PAC made posts on its networks supporting its founder's claims:

Trump strikes back... on his own social network

The president also took to the networks, although he preferred his own platform.

"Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!" he wrote in one post.

In another, later, he went further, "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!"

Musk's pilgrimage to MAGA

Formerly a Democratic voter, the billionaire began trending toward the GOP at least four years ago. Just two years ago, Musk said Trump was old for the presidency. However, that same year, 2022, he called for a vote for the Republicans in the midterm elections.

He gradually moved away from the Democrats. He accused them of censorship, of spreading the "woke virus", of senseless spending... After rumors that he might donate to Trump's last campaign in secret, Musk turned completely to the Republican candidacy. In addition to multimillion-dollar donations, he starred in events in swing states.

After the inauguration, Musk headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), charged with cutting inefficiencies in the state. A temporary position that expired last Friday.