We categorize the statements Musk fires back at Trump - but what's really behind the dispute?
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are engaged in a public exchange of blows - with serious accusations, distortions and personal jabs. The focus is on taxes, subsidies and an old connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Elon Musk and Donald Trump publicly clash over a new budget bill that extends tax cuts and slashes social spending.
- Musk criticizes the rising deficit and the elimination of subsidies for electric cars, while Trump accuses him of going berserk out of self-interest.
- Musk also accuses Trump of appearing in the secret Epstein files - there is no evidence of this.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk were once political allies - now the two are at loggerheads. At least, if the comments made by the two men on the internet are to be believed.
In a series of online posts, they accuse each other of lying, greed for power and double standards. It's all about trillion-dollar deficits, cancelled subsidies, an alleged Epstein connection - and the question of who is really harming whom. blue News sorts out what is known about the most important statements.
«We have a 2 trillion deficit. It will continue to grow.»
Entrepreneur
Elon Musk shoots against Trump's new budget law, the so-called "Big Beautiful Bill". The plan was narrowly pushed through Congress in May - against all Democratic votes and even a few Republican naysayers. It extends the big tax giveaways of 2017, cuts social benefits such as Medicaid and food stamps, increases the military budget by a whopping 150 billion dollars and cuts many subsidies for climate and energy.
Musk calls the package a "disgusting abomination". Although he himself could benefit from the tax cuts, he warns of the consequences: The government will forgo revenue - and still incur new debt. According to the official financial auditors (CBO), the national debt will shoot up by three to five trillion dollars over the next ten years.
The interest payments on the debt will outstrip all other expenditure. In 2024, the total was already over 850 billion dollars. In 2025, it is likely to break the one trillion mark for the first time - more than the entire defense budget. In concrete terms, this means that a huge proportion of the budget will go to banks and investors instead of schools, hospitals or roads.
Experts warn that this kind of policy saves money in the wrong place. While the rich are further relieved, the state lacks the funds for everything that improves people's everyday lives. The new law cements this imbalance - and turns short-term tax policy into a long-term risk for everyone.
«Trump is in the Epstein files.»
Entrepreneur
Elon Musk claims: Donald Trump is in the secret Epstein files - and that is precisely why they are still being kept under lock and key. The White House calls this an "unfortunate episode" of a disappointed Musk.
The fact is: Trump knew Jeffrey Epstein. The two partied together in Palm Beach in the 1990s. At the time, Trump called Epstein a "great guy" who liked - quote - "beautiful, rather younger women". Trump's name is in Epstein's famous "Black Book", and flight logs also show this: Trump was on Epstein's jet seven times - but according to documents, never on his island where the abuse took place.
There is no evidence of Trump's direct involvement. The documents that Justice Minister Bondi published in February do not incriminate him either. Although a model accuses Trump of molesting her in his apartment in 1993 - in the presence of Epstein - there have been no investigations to date.
«I took away the EV requirement that forced everyone to buy electric cars that no one wanted - and he knew that for months! Then he snapped.»
US President
Donald Trump claims that he took away Elon Musk's "compulsion to buy electric cars" - and that was the reason for Musk's tantrum. But that is not true. There was never a law that would have forced anyone to buy electric cars. It was about a tax credit of 7500 dollars - in other words, a bonus, not a compulsion. And it is precisely this bonus that the new law aims to remove for Tesla. It will remain in place for new providers such as Rivian.
Just a year ago, Musk himself wanted to get rid of this incentive. At the time, he said that Tesla could manage without subsidies. But that has changed. Tesla has been in crisis ever since: sales figures have stagnated and profits have collapsed. Analysts are now saying that without the purchase premium, Tesla will also struggle.
Musk clearly contradicts Trump. The story of "Elon going berserk" is a lie, he wrote on X. He emphasizes: He is primarily bothered by the huge deficit caused by the law - not the elimination of the subsidy. Nevertheless, his company openly demanded that the subsidy for e-cars should not simply be abolished.
The change of course shows: Musk is now thinking less ideologically and more economically. Tesla needs the tax bonus to survive in a difficult market. The stock market sensed this immediately - the shares plummeted by 14 percent after the exchange of blows with Trump.
«If the BBB law does not pass, there will be a tax increase of 68 percent.»
US President
This figure sounds dramatic - but it is misleading. What Trump probably means is that if the bill fails, around two thirds of Americans will have to pay more tax again. This is true in principle, but not in the way he says it. The president presents it as if everyone's taxes would rise by 68 percent. And that is wrong.
In fact, according to the independent Tax Policy Center, taxes would only rise by around 7.5 percent on average - that would be around 2100 dollars more per year per household. The reason: some tax breaks from 2017 will expire at the end of 2025 if the new law is not passed. The old, higher rates will then apply again.
Higher-earning households in particular would then pay more. Nevertheless, Trump has given the impression that every American will be affected by a huge tax increase. This is not the case. The figure of 68% only describes the proportion of households that would be affected at all - not how much the tax burden would increase.
In short, Trump is taking a real statistical figure and twisting it into a scare scenario. Experts are clear: the 68% figure is not a real tax figure - but a number trick for the big stage.
