When children of wealthy families reach adulthood, they often benefit from the largesse of parents in the form of a trust fund. It’s another way they get a leg up on less affluent peers, who may receive nothing at all — or even be expected to support their families.
But what if all children — regardless of their family’s circumstances — could get a financial boost when they turn 18?
That’s the idea behind a House GOP proposal backed by President Donald Trump. It would create tax-deferred investment accounts — coined “Trump Accounts” — for babies born in the U.S. over the next four years, starting them each with $1,000. At age 18, they could withdraw the money to put toward a down payment for a home, education or to start a small business. If the money is used for other purposes, it’ll be taxed at a higher rate.
“This is a pro-family initiative that will help millions of Americans harness the strength of our economy to lift up the next generation,” Trump said at a White House event Monday for the proposal. “They’ll really be getting a big jump on life, especially if we get a little bit lucky with some of the numbers and the economy.”
While the investment would be symbolically meaningful, it’s a relatively small financial commitment to addressing child poverty in the wider $7 trillion federal budget. Assuming a 7% return, the $1,000 would grow to roughly $3,570 over 18 years.
It builds on the concept of “ baby bonds,” which two states — California and Connecticut — and the District of Columbia have introduced as a way to reduce gaps between wealthy people and poor people.
At at time when wealth inequality has soured some young people on capitalism, giving them a stake in Wall Street could be the antidote, said Utah Republican Rep. Blake Moore, who led the effort to get the initiative into a massive House spending bill.
“We know that America’s economic engine is working, but not everyone feels connected to its value and the ways it can benefit them,” Moore wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Examiner. “If we can demonstrate to our next generation the benefits of investing and financial health, we can put them on a path toward prosperity.”
Families of all income levels could receive ‘Trump Accounts’
The bill would require at least one parent to produce a Social Security number with work authorizations, meaning the U.S. citizen children born to some categories of immigrants would be excluded from the benefit. But unlike other baby bond programs, which generally target disadvantaged groups, this one would be available to families of all incomes.
Economist Darrick Hamilton of The New School, who first pitched the idea of baby bonds a quarter-century ago, said the GOP proposal would exacerbate rather than reduce wealth gaps. When he dreamed up baby bonds, he envisioned a program that would be universal but would give children from poor families a larger endowment than their wealthier peers, in an attempt to level the playing field. The money would be handled by the government, not by private firms on Wall Street.
“It is upside down,” Hamilton said. “It’s going to enhance inequality.”
Hamilton added that $1,000 — even with interest — would not be enough to make a significant difference for a child living in poverty.
A Silicon Valley investor who created the blueprint for the proposal, Brad Gerstner, said in an interview with CNBC last year that the accounts could help address the wealth gap and the loss of faith in capitalism that represent an existential crisis for the U.S.
“The rise and fall of nations occurs when you have a wealth gap that grows, when you have people who lose faith in the system,” Gerstner said. “We’re not agentless. We can do something.”
Critics say poor families have more immediate needs
The proposal comes as Congressional Republicans and Trump face backlash for proposed cuts to programs that poor families with children rely on, including food assistance and Medicaid.
Even some who back the idea of baby bonds are skeptical, noting Trump wants to cut higher education grants and programs that aid young people on the cusp of adulthood — the same age group Trump Accounts are supposed to help. Pending federal legislation would slash Medicaid and food and housing assistance that many families with children rely on.
Young adults who grew up in poverty often struggle with covering basics like rent and transportation — expenses that Trump Accounts could not be tapped to cover, said Eve Valdez, an advocate for youth in foster care in southern California. Valdez, a former foster youth, said she was homeless when she turned 18.
Accounts for newborn children that cannot be accessed for 18 years mean little to families struggling to meet basic needs today, said Shimica Gaskins of End Child Poverty California.
“Having children have health care, having their families have access to SNAP and food are what we really need … the country focused on,” Gaskins said.
The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on the two fugitive sons of incarcerated Mexican Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and announced a reward offer of up to $10 million each for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the men.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar who are believed to be currently located in Mexico.
Guzman’s other sons — Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ovidio Guzman Lopez — are currently incarcerated in the United States. In May, federal prosecutors announced they would not seek the death penalty for Joaquin Guzman Lopez if he’s convicted of multiple charges in Chicago.
Sanctions were also imposed on a faction of the Sinaloa cartel known as the “Chapitos,” or little Chapos, which has been identified as a main exporter of fentanyl to the U.S. as well as a regional network of Chapitos associates and businesses based in Mazatlan, Mexico, that allegedly engage in drug trafficking, extortion and money laundering.
According to federal prosecutors, El Chapo smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over 25 years. He was convicted in 2019 on multiple conspiracy counts and sentenced to life in a U.S. prison.
“At the Department of the Treasury, we are executing on President Trump’s mandate to completely eliminate drug cartels and take on violent leaders like ‘El Chapo’s’ children,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
The Sinaloa Cartel, through various incarnations, is Mexico’s oldest criminal group, dating to the 1970s. One of their most lucrative businesses in recent years has been the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year in the U.S. The Trump administration in February labeled the Sinaloa cartel a foreign terrorist organizations.
On Sunday night, amid protests in the Los Angeles area, Musk posted a screenshot of a Truth Social post from Trump denouncing California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass.
The president and his allies have cast the ongoing demonstrations, which began in response to immigration raids, as an "insurrection." His administration ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard members to the LA area over Newsom's objections.
Earlier on Sunday night, Musk reposted a Truth Social post screenshot from Vice President JD Vance about the administration's response, adding two American flag emojis.
He also shared an image of a masked protester waving a Mexican flag on top of a damaged vehicle, writing: "This is not ok."
The posts come just days after the feud between Musk and Trump reached a fever pitch last week. At one point, Musk approvingly shared a post suggesting that Trump be impeached, while Trump floated revoking Musk's companies' government contracts.
Trump has said that he has no plans to repair his relationship with Musk.
The feud began after Musk departed his role as the informal leader of the White House DOGE Office, with the tech titan criticizing Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" for adding trillions to the deficit over the next 10 years.
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood says the feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk shows just how much the latter's companies rely on the government.
Joe Raedle via Getty Images
Ark Invest's Cathie Wood has weighed in on the public feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Wood said the feud reveals how much Musk's companies rely on the US government.
Trump said Saturday he had no desire to fix his relationship with the Tesla CEO.
The public feud between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump has shown investors just how much control the US government has over Musk's companies, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood says.
"I think the way this is evolving is Elon, Tesla, and investors are beginning to understand more and more just how much the government has control here," Wood said in a video posted to the company's YouTube channel on Friday.
Many of Musk's companies have key links to the government and have received billions of dollars in federal loans, contracts, tax credits, and subsidies over the years.
"Elon is involved in companies that are depending on the government," Wood said, pointing to Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink as examples.
SpaceX's COO, Gwynne Shotwell, said last year that the company has $22 billion worth of federal contracts. Neuralink, Musk's brain chip company, is subject to FDA regulation, and a less friendly regulatory environment could impact Tesla's robotaxi rollout plans. Tesla stock fell more than 14% on Thursday after Musk and Trump became locked in a series of increasingly bitter clashes.
The feud appeared to begin, at least publicly, on Tuesday, after Musk criticized Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill." He called it a "disgusting abomination" and said it would increase the national budget deficit.
Tensions rose fast between the once-close allies on Thursday. Trump threatened to cut Musk's government contracts and Musk said SpaceX would immediately begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft — which returned stranded NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station in March.
Musk later retracted that threat, which Wood said was a sign he was "beginning to walk this back."
Wood said the rift with Trump could, in part, be Musk's attempt to further decouple himself from the Trump administration. Musk announced in April that he would be stepping back from his government work.
"One of the hypotheses out there is that what has happened was partly — not entirely — orchestrated," Wood said. "Clearly, there has been some brand damage to Tesla, which he readily admits, and I think he's trying to disengage from the government and being associated with one party or the other."
Moving forward, Wood said neither Trump nor Musk needed to get "bogged down" with a fight and that she believed both would eventually heed that reasoning.
She also appeared to be confident that Musk could make the situation work for him. She said Musk "works really well under pressure" and that "he creates a lot of that chaos and pressure himself."
"I have no intention of speaking to him," Trump told NBC News.
"I think it's a very bad thing, because he's very disrespectful. You could not disrespect the office of the President," he added.
Vice President JD Vance struck a somewhat friendlier tone when asked about the possibility of reconciliation during a Thursday interview with podcaster Theo Von.
Vance said that while he thought it was a "huge mistake" for Musk to "go after the president," he hoped Musk "figures it out" and "comes back into the fold."
The right-wing media ecosystem seems to not know what to make of the Elon Musk–Donald Trump spat—but some of the president’s loyalists have made their feelings known in plain terms.
"I want to make a big announcement," said Faryar Shirzad, the chief policy officer of Coinbase, to a nearly empty room. His words echoed across the massive hall at the Bitcoin Conference, deep in the caverns of The Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, and it wasn't apparent how many people were watching on the livestream. Then again, somebody out there may have been interested in the panelists he was interviewing, one of whom was unusual by Bitcoin Conference standards: Chris LaCivita, the political consultant who'd co-chaired Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
"I am super proud to say it on this stage," Shirzad continued, addressing the dozens of people scattered across 5,000 chairs. "We have just become a major sponsor of the America250 effort."
My jaw dropped. Coinbase, the world's largest crypto exchange, the owner of 12 percent of the world's Bitcoin supply, and listed on the S&P 500, was paying for Trump to hold a military parade.
No wonder they made the announcement in an empty room. Today was "Code and Country": an entire day of MAGA-themed panels on the Nakamoto Main Stage, full of Republican legislators, White House officials, and political operatives, all of whom pr …
Senate Commerce Republicans have kept a ten year moratorium on state AI laws in their latest version of President Donald Trump's massive budget package. And a growing number of lawmakers and civil society groups warn that its broad language could put consumer protections on the chopping block.
Republicans who support the provision, which the House cleared as part of its "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," say it will help ensure AI companies aren't bogged down by a complicated patchwork of regulations. But opponents warn that should it survive a vote and a congressional rule that might prohibit it, Big Tech companies could be exempted from state legal guardrails for years to come, without any promise of federal standards to take their place.
"What this moratorium does is prevent every state in the country from having basic regulations to protect workers and to protect consumers," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), whose district includes Silicon Valley, tells The Verge in an interview. He warns that as written, the language included in the House-passed budget reconciliation package could restrict state laws that attempt to regulate social media companies, prevent algorithmic rent discrimination, …
The former "Shark Tank" star previously said he's "not a fan of either party," but would run as a Republican if he wanted to join politics.
Bill Ackman
Bill Ackman called on Musk and Trump to reconcile.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman voiced his support for both Trump and Musk on X, calling on the two to put aside their differences and "make peace for the benefit of our country."
Ackman, who had endorsed Trump for his 2024 presidential bid, wrote: "We are much stronger together than apart."
"You're not wrong," Musk responded.
Paul Graham
Paul Graham also took to X to share his thoughts on the feud.
Joe Corrigan/Getty Images for AOL
Paul Graham, cofounder of the startup accelerator Y Combinator, also weighed in on the public feud between the president and the Tesla CEO.
"A lot of people seem to be treating this as if it were just a beef. But the underlying allegation is a very serious one. If it's true, Trump is surely going to have to resign," he wrote in a post on X.
Graham did not specify what allegation he was referring to.
A lot of people seem to be treating this as if it were just a beef. But the underlying allegation is a very serious one. If it's true, Trump is surely going to have to resign.
Hours before Graham made his post, Musk went on X and accused Trump of withholding information about Jeffrey Epstein.
"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!" Musk wrote on X.
The billionaire hedge fund manager and the hip-hop mogul took to X to share their thoughts.
Ackman urged Trump and Musk to reconcile and continue working together.
"I support @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk and they should make peace for the benefit of our great country. We are much stronger together than apart," Ackman wrote in his post, which is now pinned to the top of his X profile.
I support @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk and they should make peace for the benefit of our great country.
In November, Trump said Musk would help lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which was tasked with cutting federal spending.
Early in Trump's second term, Musk was a regular fixture at the White House. At one point, the Tesla CEO brought his son, X Æ A-XII, to the Oval Office.
Then on Thursday, it all came crashing down: Musk and Trump had a very public falling out, trading barbs on their respective social media platforms.
Musk, who left his role at DOGE last week, took to X to criticize Trump's tax bill in a flurry of posts, branding it the "Big Ugly Spending Bill."
Trump then fired back during a White House event, expressing his disappointment in Musk and dismissing the criticism as a case of "Trump Derangement Syndrome," before turning to Truth Social to defend his tax bill.
Representatives for Ackman and Ye did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider outside regular hours.
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's friendship fractured on Friday.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Elon Musk predicted Trump's tariffs will trigger a recession later this year.
Musk's comment comes amid a growing public fallout with the president.
Wall Street has expressed similar concerns over Trump's tariffs.
Elon Musk predicted Donald Trump's tariffs will send the economy into recession, one of many verbal barbs the tech billionaire threw at the president on Thursday as their relationship collapsed into acrimony.
"The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year," Musk wrote on X while reposting another tweet that called Trump's tariffs "super stupid."
The morning began with Trump saying he was disappointed by Musk's opposition to his "One Big Beautiful Bill" during a press appearance to welcome the German Chancellor to the White House.
The feud intensified when Musk called out Trump's "ingratitude," and suggested establishing a new political party. The SpaceX cofounder also proposed decommissioning the company's Dragon spacecraft after Trump threatened to cut his government contracts, although Musk backed off that idea pretty quickly on X.
Fractures between the two emerged after Musk left his role recently at the White House. On Tuesday, Musk blasted the Republicans' tax-and-spending-cut bill, which Trump helped to shepherd through the House, calling it "pork-filled'" and a "disgusting abomination."
Musk isn't alone in criticizing the potential fiscal impact of this legislation. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated it could increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over a decade.
Other experts also agree with Musk that Trump's tariffs could have a negative impact on the US economy.
JPMorgan predicted a 60% chance of a US recession after Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on April 2. The bank adjusted the possibility down to below 50% recently after Trump paused most of his highest tariffs.
"There is a period of transition," he added, "because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing back wealth to America. That's a big thing, and there are always periods of, it takes a little time, it takes a little time."
Musk said in a post on X Thursday that SpaceX "will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately" in light of Trump's statement that floated canceling the billionaire's government contracts and subsidies.
The SpaceX CEO included a screenshot of Trump's earlier Truth Social post, which said terminating Musk's government contracts would be the "easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars."
Musk walked that decision back around five hours later.
"This is a shame this back and forth. You are both better than this. Cool off and take a step back for a couple days," X user Fab25june wrote on the platform.
"Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon," Musk said.
SpaceX's Dragon spaceships are used to transport NASA astronauts and supplies to and from the International Space Station.
In a statement to Business Insider, Bethany Stevens, NASA press secretary, said: "NASA will continue to execute upon the President's vision for the future of space. We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the President's objectives in space are met."
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The comments came as the feud between the former allies exploded on Thursday, with Trump and Musk publicly trading insults on their respective social media platforms, Truth Social and X.
Musk's government contracts are worth billions, with SpaceX working closely with NASA. SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, designed to be reusable, can carry up to seven passengers to and from orbit and is the first private spacecraft to transport humans to and from the ISS, the company says.
Since 2020, NASA has relied on SpaceX's Dragon to transport astronauts to and from orbit. The agency, which retired its space shuttle program in 2011, depended on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for crewed missions prior to partnering with SpaceX.
In 2024, NASA announced SpaceX was awarded a $843 million contract to help decommission the ISS by the early 2030s. The plan involved using a larger, super-powered Dragon spaceship to push the ISS out of orbit, eventually landing in a remote part of the ocean. NASA planned to transition to using privately-owned space stations in the future.
Steve Bannon, who served as the White House chief strategist in Trump's first term, said in an interview Thursday that Trump should act immediately in response to Musk's announcement about decommissioning the Dragon spacecraft.
"President Trump tonight should sign an executive order calling for the Defense Production Act," Bannon said, referring to a federal law that grants the president authority to influence or control domestic industry in the name of national defense,"and seize SpaceX tonight before midnight."
Elon Musk and Donald Trump's friendship unraveled publicly over a tax bill dispute.
Kevin Dietsch; David Becker/Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
Elon Musk and Donald Trump's friendship unraveled publicly over a tax bill dispute.
Musk criticized Trump's tax bill, calling it the 'Big Ugly Spending Bill.'
Here's how their recently fragile friendship fractured on Thursday, minute-by-minute.
Twenty-five minutes of live TV, more than a dozen posts on X, and three posts on Truth Social over the period offive hours (and counting) — that's how the already fractured friendship of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump publicly unraveled on Thursday.
The first signs of trouble began when Musk showed opposition to Trump's spending bill, the "One Big Beautiful Bill," though he never explicitly targeted Trump.
"Shame on those who voted for it," Musk tweeted on Tuesday, referring to Congress members who voted for Trump's tax cut bill.
Trump, for his part, had stayed uncharacteristically mum about Musk's criticism of the bill.
But that all changed on Thursday morning.
Here is a minute-by-minute breakdown of how the relationship between two of the most powerful men on the planet devolved.
11:20 a.m. ET
Musk began digging up Trump's old posts on what was then Twitter about the deficit, including one from January of 2013.
Musk unearthed another old X post by Trump from back in July 2012, presumably as a swipe at the new Republican tax bill that many economists and the congressional Budget Office said would increase the country's deficits.
Trump responded to Musk's attacks for the first time when answering press questions during a White House event to welcome German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"And you know Elon's upset because we took the EV mandate, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles," said Trump. "And they're having a hard time, the electric vehicles. And they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy. Elon knew this from the beginning; he knew it from a long time ago."
12:07 p.m. ET
Trump's comments about Musk continued at the press appearance.
"He knew every aspect of this bill — better than almost anybody —and he never had a problem until right after he left," said Trump. "He said the most beautiful things about me. He hasn't said bad things about me personally, but I'm sure that'll be next. But I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot."
"People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile," Trump continued.
"I don't know what it is. It's sort of Trump derangement syndrome, I guess they call it, but we have it with others, too. They leave and they wake up in the morning, and the glamour's gone. The whole world is different, and they become hostile," he added.
12:25 p.m. ET
Musk began a whirlwind of tweets soon after, responding in near real time to what Trump said during the press appearance.
"False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!" Musk posed on X.
False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it! https://t.co/V4ztekqd4g
Musk polls his X followers about creating a new political party "that actually represents the 80% in the middle." Mark Cuban quoted the post with three checkmarks.
Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?
Trump responds to Musk with two consecutive posts on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
"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.
"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 Biden didn't do it!" the president continued.
2:48 p.m. ET
Musk responds to Trump's posts on Truth Social, calling them "such an obvious lie."
Trump posts on Truth Social again to defend his tax bill.
"I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress," Trump wrote.
"It's a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn't pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn't create this mess, I'm just here to FIX IT," Trump added.
4:09 p.m. ET
Musk says SpaceX will decommission its Dragon spacecraft "immediately."
SpaceX's Dragon spaceships transport NASA astronauts and supplies to and from the International Space Station. Prior to partnering with SpaceX, the agency depended on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for crewed missions.
In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately pic.twitter.com/NG9sijjkgW
Musk says that Trump's tariffs will "cause a recession in the second half of this year."
Some economists have also predicted that Trump's tariffs would hurt the economy, and Trump himself declined to rule out the chances of a recession back in March.
JPMorgan had predicted a 60% chance of a US recession after Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on April 2. The bank adjusted the possibility down to below 50% recently after Trump paused most of his highest tariffs.
The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year https://t.co/rbBC11iynE
Musk retweeted what appears to be a video of Trump partying with Epstein from the 1990s, doubling down on his earlier statement about the Epstein files.
"This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Business Insider in a statement. "The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again."
Representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
A walkback
Musk took a softer tone later on Thursday night.
Some five hours after his post about decommissioning the Dragon spacecraft, he walked back the decision in a response to an X user.
"This is a shame this back and forth. You are both better than this. Cool off and take a step back for a couple days," X user Fab25june wrote on the platform.
"Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon," Musk wrote at 9:20 p.m.
In a separate exchange on X, billionaire investor Bill Ackman encouraged Musk and Trump to make up.
"I support @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk and they should make peace for the benefit of our great country. We are much stronger together than apart," Ackman wrote.
Musk's net worth dropped by $34 billion on Thursday, one of the worst single-day wipeouts of his personal wealth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Musk denied Trump's characterization that Musk was only critical of the bill because it would remove tax credits that benefit Tesla. He then went further in his tirade, digging up old tweets from the president that appeared to back the CEO's views, accusing Trump of having ties with the late financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and taking credit for helping Trump win the 2024 election.
"This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to BI's inquiry regarding Musk's Epstein post. "The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again."
Tesla shares plummeted more than 14%, representing about a $138 billion wipeout of the company's total market cap.
Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated that $34 billion from Musk's net worth was wiped out after Thursday's fallout, representing one of the CEO's biggest single-day losses.
In November 2021, Musk put up a poll on Twitter, asking his followers if he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock. More than 57% of 3.5 million responders said, "Yes."
The post triggered a 16% decline in Tesla shares that week, leading to a $50 billion loss in the executive's net worth.
However, the Securities and Exchange Commission has begged to differ.
The SEC sued Musk as a consequence of his infamous 2018 tweet in which he said he would take Tesla private at $420.
The settlement that followed included a $20 million fine and a stipulation that required Musk to get legal approval for any social media posts about Tesla. The arrangement became known as Musk's "Twitter sitter."
Musk has tried and failed to strike down the arrangement, taking his case to the Supreme Court in 2023. It rejected his appeal last April.
Musk and a spokesperson for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have had their ups and downs over the years.
(Photo/Alex Brandon)
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have had a tumultuous relationship over the years.
While the two traded barbs during Trump's first presidency, they've become political allies.
Musk officially joined the administration, but recently criticized Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have had something of an on-again-off-again relationship over the years.
The world's richest person and the two-time president of the United States weren't always close, but became singularpolitical allies, with Musk calling himself "first buddy" following Trump's 2024victory and donating more than $200 million toward pro-Trump super PACs.
At the beginning of Trump's second term, Musk was frequently seen on the president's side and served as the de facto head of theWhite House DOGE office, the cost-cutting initiative that made waves throughout the federal government.
In May, Musk started to separate himself somewhat from Trump, saying he'd devote more time to his businesses and spend less money on politics.
"I feel a bit stronger that he is not the right guy. He doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States," Musk said.
The billionaire added that Hillary Clinton's economic and environmental policies were the "right ones."
December 2016: Musk appointed to Trump's advisory councils
Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated his feud with Elon Musk in a series of Truth Social posts belittling the billionaire.
Evan Vucci/AP Photo
After he won the presidency, Trump appointed Musk to two economic advisory councils, along with other business leaders like Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
Musk received criticism for working with the controversial president, but he defended his choice by saying he was using the position to lobby for better environmental and immigration policies.
"You have to give him credit," the former president said, referring to Tesla becoming more valuable than Ford and General Motors. "He's also doing the rockets. He likes rockets. And he's doing good at rockets too, by the way."
Trump went on to call Musk "one of our great geniuses" and likened him to Thomas Edison.
May 2020: Trump backs up Musk in feud with California's COVID-19 rules
Elon Musk meets Donald Trump at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
As the pandemic gripped the US in early 2020, Musk clashed with California public-health officials who forced Tesla to temporarily shut down its factory there. Trump voiced his support for Musk.
"California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW," Trump tweeted in May 2020. "It can be done Fast & Safely!"
Musk called the ban a "morally bad decision" and "foolish to the extreme" in an interview with the Financial Times. Twitter kicked Trump off its platform following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
The Tesla billionaire has called himself a "free speech absolutist," and one of his key goals for taking Twitter private was to loosen content moderation.
July 2022: Trump calls Musk a 'bullshit artist'
Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a "Save America" rally in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 9, 2022
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
In July, Trump took aim at Musk, saying the businessman voted for him but later denied it.
"You know [Musk] said the other day 'Oh, I've never voted for a Republican,'" Trump said during a Saturday rally in Anchorage, Alaska. "I said 'I didn't know that.' He told me he voted for me. So he's another bullshit artist."
On Monday, Musk tweeted that Trump's claim was "not true."
July 2022: Musk says Trump shouldn't run again
Elon Musk co-founded PayPal after his startup X.com merged with Peter Thiel's Confinity.
"I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Dems should also call off the attack – don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency," he tweeted.
He continued: "Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!? Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69." Trump is 76 years old.
July 2022: Trump lashes out
Former President Donald Trump gave the keynote address at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual conference in Nashville.
Seth Herald/Getty Images
Trump then went on the offensive, posting a lengthy attack on Musk on Truth Social, the social media company he founded.
"When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidized projects, whether it's electric cars that don't drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he'd be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, 'drop to your knees and beg,' and he would have done it," Trump said in a post that criticized two of Musk's ventures, Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX.
October 2022: Trump cheers Musk's Twitter deal but says he won't return
Following Musk's official buyout of Twitter on Thursday, Trump posted to Truth Social, cheering the deal.
"I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country," he said. He added that he likes Truth Social better than other platforms, echoing comments from earlier this year in which he ruled out a return to Twitter.
On Monday, Musk joked about the potential of welcoming the former president back to his newly acquired platform.
"If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!," the Tesla CEO tweeted.
May 2023: Musk hosts Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' glitchy debut
Musk and other right-leaning voices in Silicon Valley initially supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis ended 2022 as Trump's best-positioned primary challenger. In November 2022, as DeSantis was skyrocketing to acclaim, Musk said he would endorse him. In March 2023, after enduring Trump's attacks for months, DeSantis prepared to make history by formally announcing his campaign in an interview on Twitter.
The initial few minutes were a glitchy disaster. Trump and his allies ruthlessly mocked DeSantis' "Space" with Musk and venture capitalist David Sachs. DeSantis' interview later proceeded, but his campaign was dogged for days with negative headlines.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks into his phone as he live streams a visit to the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas.
John Moore/Getty Images
September 2023: A Trump-style border wall is needed, Musk says
Musk live-streamed a visit to the US-Mexico border on Twitter, which he had rebranded as "X." Musk said that one of Trump's signature policies was necessary during his visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, to get a first-person look at what local officials called a crisis at the border.
"We actually do need a wall and we need to require people to have some shred of evidence to claim asylum to enter, as everyone is doing that," Musk wrote on X. "It's a hack that you can literally Google to know exactly what to say! Will find out more when I visit Eagle Pass maybe as soon as tomorrow."
Like Trump and others on the right, Musk had criticized the broader consensus in Washington for focusing too much on Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine in comparison to domestic issues like migration.
March 2024: Trump tries to woo Musk, but the billionaire says he won't give him money.
Trump tried to woo Musk during a meeting at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort. According to The New York Times, Trump met with Musk and a few other GOP megadonors when the former president's campaign was particularly cash-strapped. After the Times published its report, Musk said he would not be "donating money to either candidate for US President."
It wasn't clear who Musk meant in terms of the second candidate. He had repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden, who looked poised to be headed toward a rematch with Trump.
July 2024: Musk endorses Trump after the former president is shot
Musk said he "fully endorsed" Trump after the former president was shot during a political rally ahead of the Republican National Convention. The billionaire's endorsement marked a major turning point in his yearslong political evolution from an Obama voter. Days later, it would come to light that Musk pressed Trump to select Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.
Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential pick at the Republican National Convention.
The ticket, Musk wrote on X, "resounds with victory."
It wasn't just his public support that Musk was offering. In July, The Wall Street Journal reported Musk had pledged roughly $45 million to support a pro-Trump super PAC. Musk later said he would donate far less, but his rebranding into a loyal member of the MAGA right was complete.
August 2024: Trump joins Musk for a highly anticipated interview
Trump, who ended the Republican National Convention primed for victory, stumbled after Biden abruptly dropped out of the 2024 race. The former president and his allies have struggled to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee.
Amid Harris' early media blitz, Trump joined Musk on a two-hour livestream on X that garnered an audience of over 1 million listeners. The conversation covered topics ranging from a retelling of Trump's assassination attempt to illegal immigration to Musk's potential role with a government efficiency commission.
In August, Trump began floating the idea that he "certainly would" consider adding Musk to his Cabinet or an advisory role. The Tesla CEO responded by tweeting an AI-generated photo of himself on a podium emblazoned with the acronym "D.O.G.E"—Department of Government Efficiency.
"I am willing to serve," he wrote above the image.
September 2024: Musk says he's ready to serve if Trump gives him an advisory role
In September, Trump softened the suggestion of Musk joining his Cabinet due to his time constraints with running his various business ventures, the Washington Post reported. However, he also said that Musk could "consult with the country" and help give "some very good ideas."
"I can't wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go," he wrote.
He later said on X that he "looked forward to serving" the country and would be willing to do with without any pay, title, or recognition.
October 2024: Musk speaks at Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania
Elon Musk spoke at Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Musk joined Trump onstage during the former president's rally, hosted on October 5 in the same location where Trump survived an assassination attempt in July. Musk sported an all-black "Make America Great Again" cap and briefly addressed the crowd, saying that voter turnout for Trump this year was essential or "this will be the last election."
"President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution," Musk said. "He must win to preserve democracy in America."
The next day, Musk's America PAC announced that it would offer $47 to each person who refers registered voters residing in swing states to sign a petition "in support for the First and Second Amendments."
By October, the PAC had reportedly already spent over $80 million on the election, with over $8.2 million spread across 18 competitive House races for the GOP.
The Tesla CEO later told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he might face "vengeance" if Trump loses the election.
November 2024: Trump wins the presidency and names Musk his administration
President-elect Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have been nearly inseparable since the election, going to social and political events together.
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Musk was by Trump's side on election night at Mar-a-Lago, helping celebrate his victory.
Nearly a week after his 2024 presidential election win, Trump announced that Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy were chosen to lead a newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE, as Musk likes to call it, in reference to the meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin).
"Together, these two wonderful Americans will pay the way for my Administration to dismantle the Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said in a statement.
It's unclear whether the department will formally exist within the government, though Trump said the office would "provide advice and guidance from outside of Government" and work directly with the White House and Office of Management & Budget.
Musk responded in a post on X that the Department of Government Efficiency will be post all their actions online "for maximum transparency."
"Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!" Musk wrote. "We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining."
Outside of administrative duties, Musk has also attended "almost every meeting and many meals that Mr. Trump has had," the New York Times reported, acting as a partial advisor and confidant. The Tesla CEO also reportedly joined Trump's calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while both men were at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago club, where Musk seems to have settled in.
"Elon won't go home," Trump told NBC News jokingly. "I can't get rid of him."
The two's close relationship has extended to a more personal friendship. Musk was seen attending Trump's Thanksgiving dinner and on the golf course with Trump and his grandchildren, where Kai Trump said he achieved "uncle status."
December 2024: Trump reaffirms he will be the next President, not Musk
While Musk and Trump are both big personalities, the President-elect made it clear that he'll be the one running the country. President-elect Donald Trump dismissed the notion that he "ceded the presidency" to Musk and said that even if the billionaire wanted to be president, he couldn't because he was born in South Africa.
"No, he's not going to be president, that I can tell you," Trump said at Turning Point USA's annual "AmericaFest" in December. "And I'm safe. You know why? He can't be? He wasn't born in this country."
Trump's comments came after Musk flexed his influence to help shut down a bipartisan emergency spending bill earlier that month. Some Republicans questioned why Trump hadn't been more active in derailing the bill, and Democrats baited the President-elect on social media with posts about Musk "calling the shots" and taking on the role of a "shadow president.
Prior to Trump addressing the subject, Trump's team also looked to shut down the idea that Musk is leading the Republican Party.
"As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view," Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition, told BI. "President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop."
January 2025: Musk and fellow billionaires celebrate Trump's inauguration
Elon Musk spoke onstage during an inauguration event at Capital One Arena.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Trump was sworn into office on January 20. Several tech leaders were in attendance, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Google's Sundar Pichai. The "first buddy" was also front and center for Trump's inauguration.
Musk took the stage to celebrate at an inauguration event at the Capital One Arena, where he sparked accusations over a gesture he made that some said resembled a Nazi salute. Musk denied the allegations.
"Hopefully, people realize I'm not a Nazi. Just to be clear, I'm not a Nazi," he said during an interview with Joe Rogan.
February 2025: The White House says Musk isn't running DOGE
Elon Musk is undoubtedly the face of DOGE. It remains clear who exactly is running it.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Though Musk has been the face of the DOGE effort, White House court filings said he has "no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."
In the filing, Musk is described as a senior advisor to Trump with "no greater authority than other senior White House advisors." Officials have also called him a "special government employee."
Trump told reporters they can call Musk "whatever you want."
"Elon is to me a patriot," Trump said in February. "You could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant, you could call him whatever you want."
Later that month, a White House official told BI that Amy Gleason, who previously worked for US Digital Service, is the acting DOGE administrator.
March 2025: Trump buys a Tesla and calls out protesters
Trump and Musk sit inside a red Tesla Model S in front of the White House.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Despite court filings and White House officials stating otherwise, Trump told Congress that Musk is the leader of the DOGE office.
"I have created the brand-new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, perhaps you've heard of it, which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight," Trump said during his speech on March 4.
Those questioning the constitutionality of DOGE were quick to respond by letting a federal judge know about their claims that Musk is in charge.
Meanwhile, calls for a Tesla boycott are growing as Musk becomes more involved in Trump's presidency. Protests, boycotts, and vandalism at Tesla dealerships across the US have spread since the beginning of 2025.
Trump stepped in to defend Musk's electric car company on Tuesday, with Teslas on the South Lawn of the White House. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote that he'd purchase a car to show support amid the public outcry.
"The Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World's great automakers, and Elon's 'baby,' in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for," the president wrote.
April 2025: Musk announces he's stepping back from DOGE
Elon Musk said he was going to spend more time on Tesla.
Samuel Corum via Getty Images
Three months into DOGE's mission to reshape the federal workforce, Musk announced that he would be stepping back from the effort. He broke the news during an underwhelming Tesla earnings call, where earnings per share were down 71% year over year.
"Starting next month, I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla," Musk said during the call. He added that "the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency" had been completed.
At the time, Musk said he would keep spending one or two days each week on governmental duties, so long as Trump wanted him to do so.
May 2025: Musk says he'll be spending less on politics, criticizes the Republican agenda, and announces he's leaving government for good
Musk said he'd be spending a "lot less" on political campaigns in an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum.
Bloomberg
By May, Musk started to step back from his political activity overall. During an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, he said he thinks he's "done enough" in terms of political contributions.
"In terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future," he said, adding that he didn't "currently see a reason" to pour money into politics. Previously, Musk had said his super PAC would contribute to 2026 midterm efforts.
A few days later, Musk told a reporter that he "probably did spend a bit too much time on politics," and that he'd "reduced that significantly in recent weeks."
Musk took a decidedly more critical tone regarding the overall Republican agenda. In an interview with CBS in late May, he said he wasn't pleased with Trump and House Republicans' "big beautiful" spending bill.
"I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said.
And then, on May 28, Musk cut ties with DOGE and the Trump administration. The White House confirmed that it had started Musk's off-boarding process.
"As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending," Musk wrote in a post on X. "The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."
Under federal law, special government employees can't serve for more than 130 days a year. Musk left the administration 128 days after the inauguration.
June 2025: Musk and Trump escalate attacks, after Tesla CEO delivers sharp rebuke against the 'Big Beautiful Bill.'
Musk spoke out against Trump's spending bill.
ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images
Days after stepping away from his job in the White House, Musk delivered his harshest criticism yet of the GOP spending proposal called the "Big Beautiful Bill."
"I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk wrote on X on June 3. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
Some congressional Republicans, including Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee, posted that they agreed with Musk. Meanwhile, Trump has consistently defended the bill on Truth Social, including just hours before Musk's critical post on X.
In an interview with CBS News that aired June 1, Musk said, "I'm a little stuck in a bind where I'm like, well, I don't want to speak up against the administration, but I also don't want to take responsibility for everything the administration's doing."
Musk began to dig up old tweets from Trump, including one where the president said in 2013, "I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling—I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!"
Musk quote-tweeted it with the message, "Wise words," taking a dig at Trump's very different stance on the debt ceiling today.
Trump first shot back with a softer/more diplomatic response, saying that the CEO and he "had a great relationship," but he wasn't sure if it would continue.
Musk shot back within minutes on X, saying that while he thought the EV phase-out was unfair, what he really took issue with was the "MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill."
The tone soon took a sharp turn after the president threatened on the same day to terminate the federal contracts that Musk's companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, rely on, and Musk began to take credit for Trump's 2024 electoral victory.
In response to Trump's threat to cancel the government contracts, Musk said on X that he'd immediately decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which provides NASA transport to and from the International Space Station.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump were always an odd couple. Now they're in a messy divorce, and using the social networks they own to fight each other.
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are breaking up on social media.
On the social media they own, that is: Musk is using Twitter and Trump is using Truth Social.
But it wouldn't matter what platforms they use, or own: When you're this rich, famous and powerful, everything you say or type shows up everywhere, instantly.
What I didn't imagine was that the divorce between two of the most powerful men in the world would play out on rival social platforms.
Musk is tweeting away on the thing many of us still call Twitter — which he owns, of course — and Trump is firing back on Truth Social — the would-be Twitter rival he owns.
First and foremost, the spectacle of two billionaires having a potentially deeply consequential flame war is … truly something. When Jack Dorsey and crew were dreaming up their microblogging service nearly 20 years ago, they weren't dreaming of this.
But the fact that it's happening on two different social networks is also fascinating. And it underscores that "social networks" isn't always the best way to think about these platforms. At least when it comes to their mega-rich, mega-wealthy owners, these things are simply megaphones to holler at the world.
Trump, recall, became a surprisingly effective Twitter troll in the run-up to his first election, and especially once he took office. He became expert at "programming" the news by tapping out a few incendiary lines on his Twitter account, and reveling in the chaos that could create. (The guy typing this made a pretty good podcast about all that.)
Then Twitter banned Trump, which by all accounts deeply upset Trump, and that banishment helped prompt Musk to buy Twitter, and then reinstate Trump.
Why Trump never really came back to Twitter
But in the meantime, Trump had created his own Truth Social network as a Twitter alternative. And Trump has both a legal obligation and a financial imperative to post on Truth Social first.
A license agreement with Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social, requires Trump to post all "non-political social media" items to Truth Social first, then wait six hours before running them anywhere else. More important: If the guy who owns the social media platform isn't using the social media platform for his social media, why would anyone else use it?
And what's happened since — and especially now — forces us to rethink how these platforms work.
For instance: Lots of people who used to use the platform formerly known as Twitter thought that removing Trump from Twitter would diminish his power. But that obviously wasn't true. Trump crushed all comers in the last Republican primary, and won a meaningful victory in last fall's general election, despite little-to-no presence on Twitter.
More important is that Trump's ability to make the world turn based on his words isn't dependent on Twitter at all. He's the President of the United States, so whatever he says, whenever he says it — on a Truth Social post, on the White House lawn, aboard Air Force One — gets instantly amplified, oftentimes with great consequence. Trump could spout off on Tumblr or Friendster (I just Googled — Friendster still exists) and his message would get out there.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump broke up, in real-time, on their own social media platforms.
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
At the same time, Trump's presence on Truth Social doesn't seem to have meaningfully boosted usage on that platform.
Meanwhile, the things we can see from Trump Media don't suggest the platform is booming: In 2024, the company's meager revenue line actually declined by 12% over the previous year. Even more telling may be the company's seeming pivot into life as a bitcoin repository — which may turn out to make a lot of money for Trump and his partners, but doesn't suggest a real interest in running a media platform.
And at the same time, a Trump-less Twitter has … I don't know if thrived is the right word. A meaningful number of influential users and big advertisers have left the service, and its financial condition seems hopeful at best.
But despite the rise of would-be challengers, Twitter remains the most prominent place for public, real-time chatter, more or less by default. That's why people who tell you social media isn't great for you still use Twitter when they want to insert themselves into the conversation — like The New York Times' Ezra Klein did last year during crucial points in the election cycle.
That speaks to the stickiness of social networks, and how hard it is to replicate them somewhere else. But again, that isn't relevant to Musk's use of the platform to attack Trump: Musk could print out all of his insults on paper and they'd still carry the same weight and import.
When mega-billionaires speak, people listen
Put it another way: Mark Zuckerberg owns multiple huge social networks. If he were going to join this brawl, it wouldn't matter which one of them he used to come over the top rope. All that would matter is the world's second-richest man was in the fight, too, and anything he said or did would be covered by everyone, everywhere.
So cut to Thursday, when Trump has been calling to cut "Billions and Billions of Dollars" from the federal budget by "terminat[ing] Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts" and Musk is accusing Trump of suppressing embarrassing information about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein because Trump "is in the Epstein files."
The insults and threats are being lobbed from different platforms — and are at the same time directly responding to each other but also pretending the other one doesn't exist. Like exes who refuse to speak with each other, but spend all their time telling their mutual friends how awful the other one is, knowing it will get back directly to the person they're complaining about.
Except in this case, the exes are two of the most powerful people in the world. So it doesn't matter what platform they use to do it.
Mark Cuban and Elon Musk seem to have found some common ground amid the Tesla CEO's fallout with President Donald Trump.
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic via Getty Images; Megan Briggs via Getty Images
Mark Cuban and Elon Musk don't always agree on politics.
However, Cuban appeared to like Musk's idea for a new political party for "the middle."
Musk proposed the idea on X amid his ongoing feud with President Donald Trump.
Billionaires Mark Cuban and Elon Musk seem to have found some common ground.
As the Tesla CEO's relationship with President Donald Trump blows up in real time on social media amid their clash over the "Big Beautiful Bill," Musk proposed creating a new political party for "the middle."
"Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?" Musk asked in an X poll on Thursday.
Cuban, who has sparred with Musk on X multiple times on subjects ranging from DEI to Trump, appeared to endorse the idea, responding to Musk's post with three check marks.
Cuban did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
That Cuban is attracted to the idea of a new political party may not come as a surprise.
The former "Shark Tank" star and Cost Plus Drugs founder has previously expressed his dismay with both political parties. He once described himself as "socially centrist" while "very fiscally conservative."
In January, when journalist Matthew Yglesias proposed a 2028 presidential run for Cuban, BI asked the billionaire if he'd seriously consider the proposal.
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