Photo: Evan Vucci/AP
The White House hosted a press conference with US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which instantly turned into the epicentre of a new scandal between the most influential people of our time – Trump and Elon Musk.
When asked by journalists about the criticism Musk had voiced earlier on the X platform, Trump did not hold back: “I’m very disappointed. Elon knew this legislative initiative better than almost everyone here. He had no problem with it until we decided to cut subsidies for electric vehicles.”
The law that caused the controversy was drafted by Republicans in close cooperation with the Trump administration and included significant cuts to incentives for electric vehicles, one of Tesla’s key industries. Musk on Tuesday called the law “a disgusting abomination full of political deals”.
Trump responded by saying that Tesla’s funding is “unfair” and costs “billions and billions of dollars to taxpayers”. “We want different cars: petrol, electric and hybrid. And when Congress wanted to reduce the privileges, Elon changed his position,” the president stressed.
Musk was quick to respond: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election. The Democrats would have controlled the House of Representatives, and the Republicans would have had only a minimal advantage in the Senate.” He also denied Trump’s claim that he was aware of the bill’s content: “I was never even shown this law! It was passed overnight so that almost no one in Congress had time to read it.”
The conflict deepened with mutual posts on social media. Musk reminded of his own financial support for Trump’s campaign in the amount of more than $250 million, and Trump threatened to review the government’s contracts with Musk’s companies: Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and xAI.
Analysts are already comparing this dispute to a tectonic shift in the US political landscape. Musk, who until recently was an informal adviser to the White House, may now become the biggest opponent of the administration he helped form.
