Trump-Musk feud explodes with claim president is in Epstein files

WASHINGTON -- A war of words between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump erupted into a full meltdown Thursday, with Musk slamming Trump for "ingratitude" over the 2024 election, agreeing with a call for his impeachment, slamming the president's signature legislation and even claiming Trump was in the Epstein files.

Trump, speaking on television from the Oval Office, had said he was "disappointed" in Musk following his criticism Wednesday of his "big, beautiful" megabill to fund his agenda, and then engaged in a mutual barrage of social media posts, at one point saying Musk had gone "CRAZY."

As the exchanges grew progressively personal, Musk posted, without providing evidence, about Trump and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!"

He followed that up with another post, saying, "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."

Trump has previously posted, "I was never on Epstein's Plane, or at his 'stupid' Island," and he has not publicly objected to the release of the files now under Justice Department review.

Trump's previous association with Epstein and the appearance of his name in an address book and on flight logs of Epstein's planes has been widely reported.

Epstein died by suicide in his prison cell in 2019.

The public rift between Musk and Trump began in earnest with Musk's rampage against the president's domestic megabill. Musk takes issue with the bill's price tag and its estimated impact on the national debt.

Speaking to reporters at the White House earlier on Thursday, Trump pushed back on Musk in extensive remarks.

"Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," Trump said.

Musk responded in real time to Trump's personal comments on X, swiping at the legislation and at Trump directly.

At one point, Musk responded to a user: "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate."

"Such ingratitude," Musk added. Musk spent more than $270 million to back Trump and other Republicans during the 2024 election cycle.

Later, he reposted a comment calling for Trump's impeachment to be replaced by Vice President JD Vance. "Yes," Musk wrote in response to the idea.

The back-and-forth only escalated as the day went on.

Trump countered on his own conservative social media platform: "Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!"

Trump said the "easiest way to save money" would be to "terminate Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts."

Musk went on to criticize not only Trump's bill but also his tariff policy -- a cornerstone of the president's economic agenda and a decades-long political goal. He claimed on X that the tariffs would cause a "recession in the second half of this year."

Musk and Trump had not spoken as of Thursday morning, according to two sources familiar with the president's conversations.

Multiple administration officials have attempted to reach out to Musk and his representatives personally, but their calls and texts have not been returned, several sources tell ABC News.

The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" passed the House last month by a single vote. The measure would extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts and boost spending for the military and border security, while making some cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other assistance programs.

It now faces headwinds in the Senate, specifically among a small group of Republican fiscal hawks.

Musk has said the the legislation, estimated by the nonpartisan budget office to add $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, would undermine the Department of Government Efficiency's goal to reduce government spending and chip away at the nation's debt.

"Where is this guy today??" Musk wrote as he reupped another user's compilation of past Trump tweets criticizing high deficits, unbalanced budgets and more.

Musk made similar comments on X toward Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Trump contended on Thursday that Musk, the CEO of Tesla, was really "upset" because the legislation would remove tax credits for electric vehicles.

Before speaking out publicly against the bill, Musk personally pushed some lawmakers, including Speaker Johnson, to keep the tax credits for electric vehicles in the bill, according to two people familiar with conversations.

"I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people," Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday. "He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem."

Musk pushed back on X and suggested Trump was not telling the truth.

"False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!" he wrote.

In another post, Musk wrote: "Whatever."

"In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful," Musk added. "Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way."

As of now, the Tesla that President Trump bought to show support for Elon Musk is still on the White House complex, according to two sources.

The White House declined to comment. A representative for Musk has not yet returned request for comment.