The feud between Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a new turn. Musk deleted several X posts on Saturday in which he attacked Trump. In one of these posts, he stated that Trump is mentioned in the ‘Epstein documents’.
“It’s time to drop the really big bomb: Donald Trump is in the Epstein documents,” Musk wrote Friday in the now-deleted tweet. “That’s the real reason they haven’t been released.” Musk provided no evidence for his accusation.
The so-called Epstein documents refer to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He was accused of large-scale abuse of young women and girls. Epstein maintained ties with many well-known people. He committed suicide in 2019.
Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Saturday that he is too busy to speak to Musk and settle the feud. He called the Epstein accusation “old news” and stated that Musk was “disrespectful” to the presidential office. Trump also warned that Musk would suffer “very serious consequences” if he financially supported Democratic politicians.
Vice President JD Vance expressed hope in a podcast on Saturday that Musk would “return to the ranks” in the future. However, he called Musk’s actions a “big mistake”.
“Disgusting” economic plan of Trump
The series of messages followed a heated argument between Musk and Trump. It began after Musk called the president’s economic plan “disgusting.” According to the Tesla boss, the savings made by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would be undone. The top executive left that department as an advisor at the end of last month.
The feud escalated with mutual recriminations. Musk stated that Trump would never have won the presidential election without his financial support. Trump, in turn, said that stopping contracts with Musk’s companies, such as SpaceX, “would be the easy saving for the U.S.” Trump also claimed that Musk did not leave DOGE as an advisor of his own volition and that the billionaire was “crazy.”
New political party
Yesterday, Musk stated that it is high time for a new political party that represents the “80 percent of people in the middle” of the political spectrum. He based this conclusion on a poll on X in which he asked his followers on Friday whether they thought such a party was necessary. 80 percent responded in the affirmative.
Experts call the feud as intense as it is predictable. “Two powerful people with big egos and a volatile personality ultimately do what is good for themselves,” said Andrew Gawthorpe, a historian specializing in the United States, earlier to NU.nl.