Republicans back Trump by landslide in feud with Elon Musk: poll

Nearly three-quarters of Republicans side with President Trump in his public clash with Elon Musk, according to a new poll released Friday.

Just 6% of Republicans back Musk in his dispute with Trump over the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” – intended to be the signature legislative achievement of the president’s second term – while 71% of GOP faithful support the commander in chief, according to the YouGov survey. 

Of the remainder, 12% supported “neither” in the feud and 11% said they were “not sure” who to get behind. 

Independents picking between the two billionaires sided more with Trump (18%) than Musk (8%) but the majority (59%) backed neither in the conflict. 

Among Democrats, Musk received the support of 11% of respondents and Trump garnered just 4% support, with an overwhelming 80% supporting “neither.” 

Among all respondents, 28% backed Trump in the dispute compared to just 8% who supported Musk.

More than half of the survey pool (52%) said they backed “neither.”

The snap poll was conducted Thursday – as the alliance between Trump and Musk fell apart in real time a mere six days after the SpaceX, Tesla and X boss departed the White House as a top adviser to the president. 

Musk’s concerns with the “big, beautiful bill” working its way through Congress boiled over into direct attacks on Trump after the president told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that he was “very disappointed” in the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).  

“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said. 

Musk shot back on X:  “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”

“Such ingratitude.”

The world’s richest man later accused the Trump administration of withholding files related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein because the president’s name would appear in the documents. 

For his part, Trump floated terminating government contracts with Musk’s companies and claimed the former DOGE official “went crazy” after electric vehicle mandates were not included in the budget package. 

“I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday, before going on to describe his budget bill as “one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.”

Several Republican lawmakers have downplayed the impact the Trump-Musk feud is having on negotiations over the bill, which legislative leaders hope to have on Trump’s desk by July 4.

YouGov surveyed 3,812 US adults June 5, 2025.