As feud escalates, Trump implies government could cut contracts and subsidies to Musk’s companies

President Donald Trump has escalated his sudden rupture with Elon Musk by implying the government could sever ties with the tech titan’s businesses.

“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” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Thursday afternoon.

Trump’s post comes in the midst of a stunning exchange between Musk and Trump that erupted Thursday when the president told reporters in the Oval Office that he was disappointed with Musk’s criticism of the Republican policy bill that is making its way through Congress.

Musk then launched into a tirade on X, where he posted throughout early Thursday a variety of critiques of Trump, the bill and other Republican politicians.

In response to another Trump post, Musk said the president was lying.

Various estimates have been put forward on just how much Musk’s firms, primarily SpaceX and Tesla, benefit from government contracts and subsidies. The Washington Post has put the figure at $38 billion.

The value of government support to SpaceX, which includes Musk’s high-profile space-launch ventures in addition to its Starlink satellite subsidiary — is worth $22 billion alone, according to comments made by SpaceX chief Gwynne Shotwell.

Tesla has benefited from approximately $11.4 billion in regulatory credits aimed at boosting electric-vehicle purchases, though that figure also includes state subsidies.

Reuters has reported that the true figure is classified due to the nature of many of the contracts Musk’s firms are under.

Shares in Tesla, which had already fallen 8% on Thursday as the tit-for-tat escalated on social media, declined as much as 12% following Trump’s post.

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