Trump threatens to cut ‘Billions and Billions of Dollars’ in federal funding for Elon Musk’s companies as feud goes nuclear

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s fiery breakup with former adviser Elon Musk quickly escalated Thursday as the commander in chief floated slashing “Billions and Billions” in federal funding for Musk’s companies.

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that [former President Joe] Biden didn’t do it!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump issued the thinly veiled threat after Musk, the president’s top financial backer in 2024 and his ex-Department of Government Efficiency inspiration, attacked pending legislation that contains many of the Republican’s key campaign pledges.

The feud wiped away much of the wealth of the world’s richest man Thursday — with Tesla’s stock plunging 13.8% as of 3:35 p.m. As of April, Musk’s 12.8% ownership of Tesla was valued at $92.6 billion, roughly a quarter of his overall $372.7 billion net worth, according to a Yahoo Finance analysis.

Musk also is the primary owner of privately held SpaceX and social media company X, formerly known as Twitter. His other companies include brain-interface pioneer Neuralink and experimental transportation tunneling firm the Boring Company.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s firms have wide-ranging relations with federal agencies, including providing Starlink internet service and pricey space missions and receiving Biden-era electric vehicle subsidies.

SpaceX alone secured $3.8 billion in federal grants in fiscal 2024, which ended Sept. 30 of last year, according to a New York Times analysis. 

The company’s power grew under Trump when a SpaceX craft rescued a pair of astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station in March, while Starlink began providing internet services at the White House.

The federal government spent $2 billion on electric vehicle (EV) tax credits in fiscal 2024, according to the Treasury Department — with Tesla’s EV market share hovering just under 50%.

In a show of support for Tesla, which was battered by anti-DOGE boycotts, vandalism and arson attacks, Trump publicly purchased a red Model S on the White House driveway March 11 after buying a Cybertruck for his granddaughter Kai. 

Musk gushed in February that “I love [Trump] as much as a straight man can love another man” and the president reciprocated with routine weekend getaways on Air Force One with his new friend, who would stay at the Mar-a-Lago resort and sometimes in the White House’s Lincoln Bedroom.

The electric vehicle subsidies already were due to be phased out in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the vehicle through which Trump hopes to deliver on commitments to slash taxes on overtime, tips and Social Security benefits.

Musk has denounced the bill as wasteful and likely to add to the national debt, prompting Trump to retaliate by claiming the breakup was all about that provision, not concern about the national debt.

“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 wrote on Truth Social Thursday afternoon.

Musk retaliated: “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!”