Big, Beautiful Breakup—And the Fallout That’s Just Getting Started

Musk vs. Trump: From Epstein Tweets to Threats to 'Seize SpaceX'

Earlier this week, we witnessed something incredible: the world’s richest man going up against the world’s most powerful man. A seismic clash of two egos the size of Earth that'll go down in history as a political breakup for the ages.

And honestly, for all the internet hand-wringing about “a civil war on the right,” it was... well, pretty damn entertaining. I mean, how do you even go from this...

Source: X

…to this—in just a few months?

Source: X

As I munched on popcorn watching this trainwreck unfold, all I could think about was that Ron Burgundy meme:

Source: Gifrific

After Musk dropped that Epstein file tweet, it was crystal clear—the pin was out of the grenade, and there was no stuffing it back in. This was war.

I intentionally waited a couple of days before writing this—because more than the story itself, I was interested in the fallout. And for that, you need to let things marinate a bit.

But before we get into all that, let’s quickly walk through how this all started.

How It All Went Sideways

As you probably know, the Trump–Musk breakup began over Musk’s growing dissatisfaction with Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” As Musk put it:

Source: X

I get Musk’s frustration. The guy spent six months trying to trim the fat from government spending (probably earned a few gray hairs cutting those $160 billion a year). Then Trump rolls in with his “One Big, Beautiful Bill” that makes those savings look like pocket change.

Say what you want about Musk—and trust me, I don’t think he handled this whole thing particularly well—but the guy’s been consistent. Here’s a video from 2021 where he calls out the “insane federal budget deficits.”

Unfortunately, consistency isn’t exactly Trump’s strong suit. Just take a look at this grab bag of his past tweets—ranting about the national debt, slamming Congress for not balancing the budget, and railing against reckless spending. All the things that supposedly disappeared once it was his big, beautiful deficit.

Source: X

Now, look, I'm not gonna pretend this is all black and white. Nobody's arguing against extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts—keeping money in people's pockets is always a good thing.

But then you've got all this other stuff bundled in: expanded child tax credits, $256.7 million for Kennedy Center repairs, $150 billion in new military spending, and $1,000 government-funded savings accounts for every kid born between 2024 and 2028. The list goes on.

Musk is right—it's pure pork. The whole package could tack on anywhere from $2.4 trillion to $3.8 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

And it didn’t stop there. Big Beautiful also raised the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.

For Musk, this was basically a giant middle finger—a clear signal that his DOGE efforts were dead in the water.

To pour salt on the wound, on June 5, Trump floated the idea of just scrapping the debt ceiling entirely. Musk thought that was absolutely insane. Coincidentally—or not—that was the same day Musk struck back with the Epstein files tweet.

Now, Trump’s got his own version of events—best summed up in this tweet.

Source: Truth Social

Now, to be fair, Musk did seem like he was running on fumes toward the end of his DOGE tenure. And yes, his tweet barrage against Trump came off a little... unhinged.

But the idea that Musk turned on Trump purely because he’s losing EV subsidies? That doesn’t quite add up.

Musk himself has advocated for ending the $7,500 federal tax credit for EV buyers. In fact, just last December, he wrote:

Take away the subsidies. It will only help Tesla. Also remove the subsidies from all industries!

The logic being: removing subsidies would hurt competitors more than it would hurt Tesla, the dominant player.

Source: Forbes

Plus, it's not like Trump's anti-EV stance was some big secret. The guy literally campaigned on ending Biden's "EV mandate."

So while Musk’s reaction may have been dramatic, his frustration feels genuine. He came to Washington to cut fat. He left with a front-row seat to an even bigger spending spree.

Fallout: Tesla Takes the Hit

It’s one thing to be the richest man on the planet—but making enemies with the most powerful man can come at a cost.

Case in point: Tesla.

The stock got absolutely hammered, plunging 17% in a single day on June 5—wiping out more than $150 billion in market value. According to Reuters, it was the biggest one-day loss in Tesla history.

Source: Bloomberg

I remember getting roasted for selling my Tesla shares before Trump’s inauguration. “Musk is Trump’s right-hand man now,” they said. “This is obviously bullish for his companies.”

Seemed like a no-brainer to buy and hold—right?

Well, hundreds of attacks on Tesla cars and dealerships later, millions in damages, and Europe straight-up boycotting the brand, Tesla's down over 20% for the year.

Moral of the story: buyer beware… or in investor-speak, stay the hell away from politics.

Still, there’s one odd silver lining for Musk.

On June 5, searches for “how to remove sticker from car” spiked. That’s right—blue-state liberals were busy peeling off their Musk protest decals. If Google Trends is any indicator, he might just be winning back a few fans from the other side.

Source: Google Trends

What a time to be alive, right?

Fallout: SpaceX

Then things got really interesting with SpaceX.

Now, it’s not a public company—so retail investors can't get burned directly. But what happened next was way more fascinating—and honestly, more disturbing—than Tesla's stock implosion.

Throwing “cooler heads prevail” out the window, Musk fired back at Trump's threats to kill his government contracts with this post:

Source: X

Interestingly, SpaceX's Dragon capsule is literally the only American spacecraft that can ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Their Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are responsible for two-thirds of all NASA launches—satellites, science missions, you name it.

Translation: no Dragon, no NASA. No Musk, no space program.

So naturally, on June 5, former Trump strategist Steve Bannon had this to say on his War Room podcast (video below):

When he threatens to take one of the big programs out of SpaceX, President Trump tonight should sign an executive order calling for the Defense Production Act to be invoked and seize SpaceX tonight before midnight.

Now, I don't think Bannon was calling for a full-blown nationalization of SpaceX. At least, I hope not. He's smart enough to know that using the DPA to grab an entire company would be completely unprecedented and face a mountain of legal challenges.

That said, the government absolutely could invoke Title I of the DPA to take control of its Dragon capsule program. This would essentially amount to “seizing” key assets without outright ownership.

Is it legal? Technically, yes. Is it consistent with conservative values about private property and free markets? Not even close.

But there’s precedent.

The DPA was used during the Korean War to prioritize steel production for military needs. Hell, Trump himself used it to force companies like 3M and General Motors to crank out ventilators and PPE during COVID.

What's really wild about Bannon's reaction is the speed. The guy didn't even wait 24 hours to see how things would play out—just straight to "seize SpaceX." Absolutely incredible.

Naive me—I thought the whole point of voting for right-wingers was to protect us from leftists who want to grab people’s property and tax them to death.

Imagine if SpaceX were a public company. That stock would've gotten slaughtered way worse than Tesla.

What's Next?

So where does this soap opera go from here?

Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. But I seriously doubt these two massive egos are gonna kiss and make up anytime soon.

My advice? Keep watching the fallout—it might just save you a buck or two.

Regards,

Lau Vegys