The high-profile alliance between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump is unraveling—and fast.
What once looked like a powerful political and personal partnership has now soured, with sources close to the White House saying the bromance is effectively over.
Musk, who took a leading role in Trump’s second-term government as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was once central to the administration’s agenda. He aggressively pushed for federal budget cuts and amplified Trump’s policies through his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter). Trump publicly praised Musk as a “genius” and defended Tesla during protests that targeted the electric carmaker.
Musk was a regular at Mar-a-Lago during the transition and was seen as one of Trump’s closest outside advisers. But now, insiders say tensions have reached a breaking point.
“He’s finished, done, gone. He polls terrible. People hate him,” a GOP source told Politico. “He’d go to Wisconsin thinking he can buy people’s votes, wear the cheese hat, act like a 9-year-old. … It doesn’t work. It’s offensive to people.”
Musk’s quiet exit from DOGE coincides with an uptick in clashes behind the scenes. According to The Atlantic, Musk sparred with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over the IRS, Secretary of State Marco Rubio over dismantling USAID, and even with Trump himself over a controversial effort to sway Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election in April.
Since shifting his focus back to Tesla and SpaceX, Musk hasn’t held his tongue. This week, he openly criticized Trump’s latest spending bill, saying it betrayed everything DOGE stood for.
“It increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told CBS.
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.”
He’s also blasted Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which have disrupted international supply chains that Musk’s tech companies depend on. And in a clear swipe at Trump’s pro-oil stance, Musk posted: “Compared to solar, oil is small-time.”
Despite the public fallout, the White House is trying to downplay the rift. Vice President JD Vance said in April: “Elon is going to remain a friend and an adviser of both me and the president.”
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt added: “Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.”
But that talk feels more like spin than reality. Musk is pulling back, taking shots at Trump’s policies, and refocusing on his companies. The bromance that once defined Trump’s second term? It’s over.
