Tesla shares (TSLA) dropped nearly 9% to under $303 on Thursday afternoon, as tensions between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk spilled into public view.
Just days ago, the pair shared a White House farewell as Elon Musk stepped down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he served as a special government employee.
However, the relationship quickly soured after Musk blasted President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” in a June 3 X post, calling it a “disgusting abomination” and slamming it as bloated, wasteful, and deficit-busting.
The rift deepened on Thursday when Trump hit back at Musk’s criticism of the Republican-backed policy bill.
“I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill,” Trump said from the Oval Office during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 President @realDonaldTrump expresses he is “very disappointed” with @elonmusk. pic.twitter.com/kLVuBlcMqv
— Crypto Briefing (@Crypto_Briefing) June 5, 2025
Trump suggested Musk’s criticism stemmed from the bill’s removal of electric vehicle tax credits. The president said he had a great relationship with Musk but added, “I don’t know if we will anymore.”
“Elon’s upset because we took the EV mandate, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles, and they’re having a hard time with electric vehicles, and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidies,” Trump said. “Elon knew this from the beginning.”
Musk initially dismissed Trump’s comments as “whatever” before going on to claim credit for Trump’s electoral success.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House, and the Republicans would be 51–49 in the Senate,” Musk said.
“Such ingratitude,” he added.
Musk also pushed back on Trump’s claims, stating he was never shown the “big beautiful” bill. He added that the bill was pushed through so quickly that no one had time to read it.
False, 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! https://t.co/V4ztekqd4g
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
