The friendship that once saw Elon Musk serve in the White House is officially and explosively over. In a lengthy and personal tirade posted to Truth Social on Sunday, President Donald Trump unloaded on his former ally, expressing his profound disappointment and casting Musk as an ungrateful and confused figure who has gone “completely ‘off the rails.’”
The catalyst for the public condemnation was Musk’s launch of “The America Party,” a third-party movement aimed at disrupting the two-party system. For Trump, this was not a political calculation but a personal slight from a man he felt he had supported, even when he found his actions baffling.
“I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks,” Trump wrote, framing the situation as a tragic downfall rather than a simple policy disagreement. The post reads like a lament for a broken friendship, detailing a relationship that Trump suggests was always marked by his own confusion over Musk’s motives.
The backdrop for this political divorce was the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump’s signature domestic policy legislation. After Musk, who briefly led a government efficiency task force for the administration, turned on the bill, the relationship quickly soured. But Trump’s post makes it clear he sees Musk’s opposition and subsequent founding of a new party as rooted in something more personal and financial: the bill’s elimination of the electric vehicle (EV) mandate.
“Unfortunately for Elon, it eliminates the ridiculous Electric Vehicle (EV) Mandate, which would have forced everyone to buy an Electric Car in a short period of time,” Trump wrote. He then detailed a private conversation that highlights his sense of betrayal, claiming he was shocked that Musk had offered his endorsement while knowing Trump’s firm opposition to the mandate.
“I have campaigned on this for two years and, quite honestly, when Elon gave me his total and unquestioned Endorsement, I asked him whether or not he knew that I was going to terminate the EV Mandate,” Trump recounted. “He said he had no problems with that – I was very surprised!”
Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” that he signed into law on July 4, eliminates a $7,500 tax break for the purchase of a new EV, and $4,000 for a used one on September 30.
The anecdote paints Musk not as a political adversary, but as an inconsistent and perhaps disingenuous partner. Trump continued this theme by sharing another story that underscores his bewilderment with Musk’s judgment, this time involving a request to appoint a “close friend” to lead NASA.
“Elon asked that one of his close friends run NASA and, while I thought his friend was very good, I was surprised to learn that he was a blue blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before,” Trump wrote, expressing his astonishment. “I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life.”
By sharing these behind-the-scenes moments, Trump casts himself as the loyal and consistent leader, blindsided by the erratic behavior of a man he brought into his inner circle. The message is clear: the alliance is over not because of a political rift, but because, in Trump’s eyes, Musk has proven himself to be an unreliable and ungrateful actor. The once-celebrated “bromance” between two of the world’s most powerful men has ended in a spectacular public wreck, with the President himself sadly surveying the damage.
