SA Graphics: Full timeline of the Musk-Trump feud

Marking the EV maker’s worst session on record, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) crashed 14.3% to $284.70/share on Thursday to erase $152B in market cap. The stock rebounded 5% overnight, but the price is near the same level at which it was trading around the presidential election on Nov. 5, 2024.

Translation: Tesla has now surrendered most of the gains garnered since the so-called “Trump bump.” And for good reason. CEO Elon Musk and President Trump have had a very bad breakup, with escalating rhetoric continuing to spill out into the open.

Things have reportedly gone sour in the West Wing for a while, where Musk served as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. His agenda at DOGE oftentimes clashed with the administration’s efforts, with Musk getting into fights with Scott Bessent, Marco Rubio, Sean Duffy and Peter Navarro. Musk was also approaching the end of his term as special advisor with a need to spend more time at Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX (SPACE), at the same time that Trump was pushing his “Big Beautiful Bill” through Congress – to the dismay of Elon’s mission to bring financial accountability to the government.

That wasn’t all. While the “BBB” included tax incentives for the oil and gas industry, it slashed EV credits and imposed a fee on EV owners in place of the federal gas tax. That appeared to be the final straw for Musk (along with missing out on his preferred NASA pick), after donating millions of dollars to Trump’s election campaign, helping shore up the voter base, and standing by his side while seeing his companies spiral during his time at the White House. On the other side of the Resolute Desk, Trump was committed to DOGE, but had to balance an entire administration (not just one newly created department), with an extremely narrow majority in Congress and a need to make concessions along spending lines.

Take a step back: The war of words has since escalated over X, Truth Social, and in the Oval Office (see a graphic on the back-and-forth below). The public brawl has covered accusations that involve Jeffrey Epstein, potential termination of government contracts, and threats to decommission SpaceX vehicles. Reports suggest that White House aides have scheduled a call for today between Trump and Musk, while billionaire Bill Ackman urged the sides to “make peace for the benefit of our country,” to which Musk replied, “you’re not wrong.”