Billionaire Elon Musk said, in response to Trump threatening to cancel his company’s government contracts, he will immediately begin decommissioning the SpaceX Dragon. The rocket that brought two stranded NASA astronauts back to earth is also the only U.S. rocket that can carry crews to and from the International Space Station. Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages science on the outpost. No Crew Dragon could mean fewer astronauts going to the station or even returning to Russia to ask for more rides on that nation’s Soyuz capsule.
Trump spent weeks crowing about how SpaceX brought back astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore in March, after their planned short mission to the International Space Station was extended unexpectedly. Trump blamed the Biden administration for not returning the astronauts and hailed Musk for bringing them back to Earth.
Musk nonetheless posted on X on Thursday that SpaceX “will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.” It wasn’t clear from his post, however, how serious he was amid an increasingly nasty — and highly public — feud between Trump and Musk continues.
Donald Trump threatened to cut Elon Musk's government contracts as their fractured alliance rapidly escalated into a public feud. Hours after Trump said he was "disappointed" in his former backer and adviser, Musk responded on social media, and Trump escalated the feud by threatening to use the U.S. government to hurt Musk's bottom line.
House Republican weighs in on what Trump-Musk dispute could mean for GOP's tax bill. House member Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who served in the first Trump administration as Interior secretary, voiced concern about the Trump-Musk dispute, saying it could imperil the Republicans' tax and immigration bill.
"I think for some it gives ammunition and cover to vote against the big, beautiful bill," Zinke said. "It's unfortunate because you have the richest man in the world versus the most powerful man in the world."
Zinke said he admired Musk's work in seeking to cut federal spending. He called both men "good complements."
He said his concern is shared by other lawmakers.
"I would say the fight of the egos does put the reconciliation bill in greater jeopardy. I think that's a fair assessment," Zinke said.
Well, that escalated quickly.
In the hours since Trump was asked about Musk criticizing the White House-backed spending bill and told reporters in the Oval Office that he was "very disappointed in Musk," the two have been furiously posting on social media — intensifying an increasingly nasty spat. Musk immediately responded on X to Trump's original comments and unleashed a parade of subsequent posts there — with Trump firing back almost as frequently on his own social media site.
"The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts," Trump wrote. Musk eventually alleged, without offering evidence, that Trump was "in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public."
Now, Wall Street is worried about Trump's hitting back at Musk through Tesla.
"Trump is tit for tat. If Musk tries to mess up Trump's bill, Trump won't be Mr. Nice Guy" when it comes to self-driving cars, which Musk acknowledges are a key to Tesla's future, said Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities.
The material on Epstein that has already been released includes mentions of Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Britain's Prince Andrew and magician David Copperfield, as well as testimony from one victim who said she met Michael Jackson at Epstein's Florida home but nothing untoward happened with him.
The previously released files included a 2016 deposition in which an accuser recounted spending several hours with Epstein at Trump's Atlantic City casino but didn't say if she actually met Trump and did not accuse him of any wrongdoing. Trump has also said that he once thought Epstein was a "terrific guy" but that they later had a falling out.
Musk's latest claims about the Epstein files taps into long-standing conspiracy theories
Musk's latest claim about Trump's ties to Epstein taps into suspicions among conspiracy theorists and online sleuths that incriminating and sensitive files in the government's possession have yet to be released. Attorney General Pam Bondi fueled that speculation in February when she hyped the release of records by the department related to the case. Much of what was then distributed has for years been in the public domain.
Over the years, thousands of pages of records have been released through lawsuits, Epstein's criminal dockets, public disclosures and Freedom of Information Act requests. Musk claims without evidence that Trump is named in unreleased Epstein files
Elon Musk has posted without evidence that President Donald Trump is mentioned in still-secret Justice Department files related to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein and he suggests that's why the records have not been released.
Musk provided no support for the claim on his social media platform X, but it came amid a spectacular and public disintegration of his once-close relationship with Trump.
Editor's note— CNBC reports that Elon Musk may not decommission SpaceX Dragon after all. An "X" writer urged him to "cool off."
