On Thursday, the public fallout between Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and Donald Trump escalated and sparked a wave of reactions from political leaders, including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other leaders, as the once-close relationship between the two men unravels.
What Happened: The rift between Musk and Trump reached a boiling point this week, following Musk's vocal criticisms of Trump's legislative agenda.
The tech mogul publicly rejected Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" and criticized it for exacerbating the deficit. He even suggested that it could trigger a recession.
In response, Trump said, "I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago."
Schumer took to X, formerly Twitter, and posted, "Siri, play ';Bad Blood,'" in what appeared to be a pointed remark. In a separate post, he shared a tweet by Elon Musk, accompanied only by a popcorn emoji, signaling keen interest in the unfolding drama.
Johnson also took to X, the social media site owned by Musk. Responding to Musk's post asking, "Where is the Mike Johnson of 2023!?"--alongside an old tweet of Johnson decrying the national debt.
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In response, Johnson wrote, "The Mike Johnson of 2023 is the SAME Mike Johnson who has always been a lifelong fiscal hawk." He defended the proposed bill, stating that it includes the "largest mandatory spending cut to the federal government in history."
Speaking to CNN, Johnson called Musk's public attacks on Trump "not helpful," noting, "Elon is a friend… This isn't personal. Policy differences should not be personal."
However, after leaving the House floor, Johnson acknowledged the obvious: "It clearly is personal" between Musk and Trump.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) called on Musk to halt his attacks on Trump, saying, "This tit-for-tat … isn't helping." While acknowledging Musk's talents, Nehls criticized his remarks as "irresponsible" and warned, "You've lost your mind," the report noted.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who voted against Trump's domestic policy bill, cautioned that the legislation is already "on life support" and could be jeopardized further in the Senate.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) suggested the clash was inevitable, adding, "At some point it falls on deaf ears… people are tired of hearing it."
Trying to defuse tensions, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) said he's invited Trump, Musk, Speaker Johnson, Vice President JD Vance, and Massie to a private dinner to "mend fences," but declined to say who has responded, the report added.
Why It's Important: Shares of Tesla plunged 14.26% on Thursday to close at $284.70. In the after-hours trading, the shares gained 0.77%, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
However, the sharp decline during the regular hours wiped out $152 billion in value. The EV giant currently has a market cap of $1.06 trillion, making it the ninth most valuable company in the world.
This happened after Trump took to Truth Social and suggested that a quick way to trim federal spending would be to eliminate Musk's government subsidies and contracts, totaling “Billions and Billions of Dollars,” he wrote.
"I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it," he added.
Musk's ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX, heavily rely on government support, ranging from regulatory credits in the automotive sector to lucrative space and defense contracts. A Washington Post analysis estimates his companies have received at least $38 billion in public funding.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings highlight Tesla's strong price momentum across short, medium and long-term timeframes. More detailed performance data is available here.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
