Male friendship over: The sparks fly between Musk and Trump

A fierce rift has broken out between Donald Trump and Elon Musk . The conflict was sparked by Trump's tax law. But then, suddenly, numerous other issues came to the fore, and things got serious.

The rift began with the tech billionaire's criticism of the president's budget plans. Musk criticized the planned tax cuts as a "disgusting abomination" and said they would "bankrupt America." According to budget experts, the bill, which still has to be passed by the Senate, could drive US debt to a new high. The US is already more than $ 36 trillion in debt. Trump, nevertheless, is sticking with his proposal, which he calls the "Big Beautiful Bill."

Trump called Musk "crazy" for his criticism and threatened to end the US government's subsidies and contracts with the tech billionaire's companies. This would save his administration "billions and billions of dollars," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Musk's space company, SpaceX, in particular, works closely with the US government. He and Trump had proposed a US mission to Mars.

Following Trump's threats, Musk announced that he would immediately "retire" his Dragon spacecraft. The US space agency NASA relies on the Dragon capsule to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

Musk's announcement is likely a retaliation for another announcement by Trump: The White House announced over the weekend that Musk confidant Jared Isaacman would not become the new head of NASA, contrary to plan. He did not represent Trump's "America First" agenda, they said.

Following Trump's threat to withdraw government contracts from Musk, the share price of his electric car company Tesla plummeted. On New York's Wall Street on Thursday, the stock temporarily lost around 14 percent of its value, wiping out more than $100 billion in revenue.

Musk accused the president of "ingratitude" and declared, "Without me, Trump would have lost the election." Musk had invested more than $235 million in Trump's campaign.

As a token of gratitude, the right-wing populist appointed the South African-born tech entrepreneur to oversee the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and implement sweeping cuts in the government apparatus. Musk resigned from the advisory position at the end of May.

Musk also dropped a "really big bombshell," as he wrote on X. He wrote that Trump appears "in the Epstein files."

Musk was referring to the abuse scandal surrounding US billionaire Jeffrey Epstein . He was convicted in 2008 of sexually abusing numerous girls and young women, whom he allegedly also supplied to celebrities such as Britain's Prince Andrew.

Musk's alleged revelation, however, isn't entirely new: Trump also appeared in declassified documents about Epstein, but he wasn't accused of any wrongdoing. Epstein himself can no longer testify; he was found dead in his prison cell in 2019. According to authorities, he took his own life.

Musk had previously expressed support for the possibility of removing Trump from office. "Yes," he wrote in response to a shared post by an X-user suggesting that Vice President JD Vance replace Trump.

Both Trump and Musk are known for their rash remarks and surprising volta-faces. But after this exchange, it looks as if the ties between them have been severed.

The days when Musk spent time with Trump's family and the president's granddaughter Kai Trump granted him "uncle status" last November are likely over.