CNN
—
Multiple allies caught in the middle of the implosion between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk were delicately attempting to broker peace between the two men on Thursday when their quiet conversations were disrupted by a post on X.
“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!” Musk wrote, stunning those with close relationships to Trump and Musk.
Several people familiar with what was happening behind the scenes — who were desperately making phone calls to one another and trying to tamp down the escalating feud — described that as the tipping point, fearing that there was no going back after Musk’s loaded accusation about the president regarding the so-called Epstein files.
While Trump and Musk had largely argued over policy, it had now turned personal.
Officials in the West Wing spent most of Thursday glued to their phones as they watched the battle between the two play out on X and Truth Social. Several aides were sending the updates in group chats, likening it to a divorce and commenting that they expected this would happen, just not this soon.
“I thought maybe August,” one noted to CNN.
White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Musk’s claims an “unfortunate episode” in a statement to CNN Thursday night.
“This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted. The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again,” Leavitt said.
Musk has not detailed how he would have gained access to unreleased files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and has not provided any evidence of where his information was coming from.
Tensions had been growing between the two billionaires throughout the week, as Musk, who recently departed the administration following a time-limited stint as a special government employee, railed against the Trump domestic agenda bill currently making its way through Congress.
But the feud reached new ruptures on social media on Thursday afternoon as Trump floated the termination of Musk’s business contracts with the government and Musk invoked Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
“I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,” Trump said on his social platform, Truth Social, complaining about the fight emerging as his administration seeks to pass its policy bill.
Musk soon after called for Trump’s impeachment, threatened to decommission the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that returned NASA astronauts from the International Space Station and said the president’s tariffs would trigger a recession later in the year.
Late Thursday, however, he walked back the plans to decommission the Dragon spacecraft, after an X user encouraged the parties to “Cool off and take a step back for a couple days.”
“Good advice,” the tech billionaire responded. “Ok, we won’t decommission dragon.”
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman offered similar advice on X, writing: “I support @realDonaldTrump and @elonmuskand they should make peace for the benefit of our great country. We are much stronger together than apart.”
“You’re not wrong,” Musk responded.
