The head of engineering for Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot division, left the company on Friday. Milan Kovac announced his departure on X, insisting that it “will not change a thing” about the company’s plans, which, as of March, meant building thousands of robots this year alone.

Kovac insisted that he was leaving Tesla only to “spend more time with family abroad,” adding that his “support for @elonmusk and the team is ironclad,” heading off speculation that his exit might have been prompted by Musk’s political activity or recent public squabble with Donald Trump. In his own tweet, Musk thanked Kovac for his “outstanding contribution to Tesla over the past decade.”

Musk has called the humanoid Optimus robots Tesla’s “most important product development,” and has repeatedly leaned on the division to generate hype as EV sales slow and the company’s stock price tumbles. “The only things that matter in the long term are autonomy and Optimus,” Musk told CNBC in May, referring to the company’s separate plans for self-driving cars, set to be deployed in a “robotaxi” service in Austin this month.

Bloomberg reports that Autopilot chief Ashok Elluswamy will take over responsibility for Optimus, which is at a critical stage. In March Musk claimed the company could make “at least one legion of robots this year and then probably 10 legions next year,” which would mean around 5,000 robots by the end of this year, and 50,000 in 2026. To do so, it will have to overcome China’s recent restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals and magnets, which are essential for the robots’ construction.

A remarkable schoolyard brawl erupted online Thursday between President Donald Trump and his former "First Buddy" Elon Musk during which the pair traded insults and barbs. The war of words reached a crescendo during the afternoon when Trump threatened Musk's federal contracts.

"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!" Trump wrote on his social media network, Truth Social, at 2:37 pm ET.

Anyone with a reasonable grasp of reality understood that the "bromance" between the president of the United States and the most wealthy person in the world was going to blow up at some point, but even so, the online brouhaha that has played out Thursday is spectacular—at one point Musk suggested that Trump was in the Epstein files, for goodness' sake.

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• 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 of five 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.

11:46 a.m. ET

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.

12 p.m. ET

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.

12:46 p.m. ET

Musk then began a series of tweets directed at the president beyond the bill, including saying that without him, Republicans would have lost.

1:57 p.m. ET

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.

2:23 p.m. ET

Musk gives Trump's bill — known on paper as the "One Big Beautiful Bill" — a new name: "Big Ugly Spending Bill."

2:37 p.m. ET

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."

2:49 p.m. ET

A minute later, Musk appeared to dare Trump to cancel government contracts with his companies.

3:10 p.m. ET

Musk makes another accusation.

4:06 p.m. ET

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.

4:26 p.m. ET

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.

4:43 p.m. ET

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.

"You're not wrong," Musk responded at 9:27 p.m.

• Elon Musk's latest feud with Trump began with an X post, criticizing the GOP's spending bill.
• Tesla shares were down 14% by the market's close, wiping out $138B of the company's worth.
• Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates that about $34 billion was erased from Musk's net worth.

We can now put a price on Elon Musk's very public breakup with President Donald Trump.

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.

Until Thursday, Musk had mostly kept his criticism geared toward the GOP's "big beautiful bill." Everything changed once Musk's rant against the president turned personal.

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."

Trump responded with his own barbs, threatening to cancel federal contracts with Musk's companies.

Musk said he'd immediately decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in response to Trump's threat.

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.

Musk, for his part, has insisted that his social media posts don't impact his companies' 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.

• 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 singular political allies, with Musk calling himself "first buddy" following Trump's 2024 victory 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 the White 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.

By early June, it appeared that their relationship was blowing up in real time as the two publicly disagreed over the "Big, Beautiful Bill."

Here's how the two billionaires reached this point.

November 2016: Musk says Trump is 'not the right guy' for the job

Just before the 2016 presidential election, Musk told CNBC he didn't think Trump should be president. 

"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

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. 

June 2017: Musk cut ties with the White House in protest of Trump's environmental policies

On June 1, 2017, after Trump announced the US would pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, Musk resigned from his roles on presidential advisory boards. 

"Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk said in a tweet announcing his departure.

Musk's goal for Tesla is to curb dependence on fossil fuels through electric vehicles, solar power, and stationary energy storage. 

January 2020: 'One of our great geniuses'

During a January 2020 interview with CNBC, Trump praised Musk's accomplishments and intelligence. 

"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

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!"

"Thank you!" Musk replied. 

May 2022: Musk said he would reinstate Trump's Twitter account

In May, Musk said he would unban Trump as Twitter's new owner. 

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'

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

Musk stopped short of attacking Trump personally, but said he shouldn't run for president again. 

"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

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. 

"Lmaooo," Musk responded on Twitter.

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.

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."

Musk then replied to a tweet about the Washington Post article, expressing his enthusiasm.

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.'

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."

On June 5, the barbs escalated as Musk doubled down on his criticisms and Trump threatened the CEO's businesses.

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.

The president said Musk was criticizing his bill because of the phase-out of the electric vehicle tax credit, which would likely have repercussions for Musk's Tesla.

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 has sat down for at least five interviews in recent days.
• He's criticized Trump's spending bill and said he's spent too much time on politics.
• Here's what to know about each interview Musk has given.

Elon Musk is talking to the media again.

After months of largely avoiding sit-down interviews as he devoted time to DOGE, the tech titan suddenly seems to be all over the place.

Across five recent and forthcoming interviews, Musk has reflected on the work of DOGE, offered some criticism of President Donald Trump's legislative agenda, and indicated he's trying to spend less time on politics and more time on his companies.

Here's what you should know about what he said in each interview.

Bloomberg: Musk says he's spending less on politics

Perhaps the biggest revelation from Musk's sit-down with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum last week is that he's no longer going to be spending big on politics, like he did in the 2024 election.

"I think I've done enough," Musk said. "If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason."

If the tech titan holds true to those comments, Republicans will be losing out on what could have been tens of millions of dollars in political spending. Last year, Musk spent nearly $300 million, mostly on Trump.

He also said that it's up to Trump and Congress to make the project of DOGE a success.

"The DOGE team has done incredible work, but the magnitude of the savings is proportionate to the support we get from Congress and from the executive branch of the government in general," Musk said.

CNBC: New Tesla announcements

Musk's CNBC interview, which also took place last Tuesday, was mostly about Tesla.

He said that within just a matter of months, there could be 1,000 of the company's robotaxis on the streets of Austin, Texas.

"We'll start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40," Musk said. "It will probably be at 1,000 within a few months." He's previously said the ramp-up will be quick.

He also mentioned that he still planned to be in Washington on a weekly basis, even as he spends more time on his companies.

"My rough plan on the White House is to be there for a couple days every few weeks, and to be helpful where I can be helpful," Musk said.

Ars Technica: Musk says he's spent too much time on politics

Musk spoke with Ars Technica, a tech-focused publication, in an Q&A published on Tuesday.

Though he mostly talked about SpaceX, he also said he's been too involved in politics since wading into the 2024 presidential race last year.

"I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics," Musk told the outlet. "It's not like I left the companies. It was just relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I've reduced that significantly in recent weeks."

The Washington Post: Musk laments that DOGE has become a 'whipping boy'

In an interview with the Washington Post, also published on Tuesday, Musk said that the "federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized" and that it's an "uphill battle trying to improve things" in Washington, DC.

He also lamented the political backlash that DOGE has generated, especially from Democrats.

"DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything," he said. "So, like, something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it."

That backlash has extended to his companies, particularly Tesla.

"People were burning Teslas," Musk said. "Why would you do that? That's really uncool."

CBS: Not a fan of the 'big beautiful bill'

In an interview with CBS — a network that's currently in the midst of a legal battle with Trump — Musk criticized the "One Big Beautiful Bill," which is the centerpiece of the president's legislative agenda because it adds trillions to the deficit.

"I was like, 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. "I think a vote can be big, or it could be beautiful. I don't know if it could be both."

And that's just what we know from a clip that was released on Tuesday. The rest of the interview is set to air on Sunday, June 1.

• Cadillac said it's seeing a rise in Tesla owners switching to its Lyriq EV models.
• Cadillac has expanded its EV lineup, and California registrations have increased by 60% year over year.
• The automaker's growth comes as Tesla had a tough first quarter and experienced declining registrations in multiple markets.

Cadillac appears to be eating into Tesla's customer base.

The automaker told Business Insider it's seen a rise in Tesla owners switching to its EV brand. The company said its EVs have a conquest rate of about 75% — or the percentage of sales coming from customers switching brands — with 10% being former Tesla owners.

Cadillac told BI its first EV model, the Lyriq, launched in 2022 and is seeing a roughly 80% conquest rate, with 25% of buyers coming over from Tesla.

At a recent event showcasing its Vistiq model, Cadillac's director of global marketing, Brad Franz, told CNBC the company has seen "a good jump" in the rate and that General Motors' luxury vehicle division has "always had good interaction with Tesla customers," with the Lyriq conquest rate of Tesla owners ranging from 10% to 15%.

Franz told CNBC that the figure is now on the rise as the car brand expanded its luxury EV lineup, and it sees potential for even greater growth. Cadillac has added three additional EVs to its portfolio in the past 6 months, including the Escalade IQ, Optiq, and Vistiq.

Cadillac told BI it's not targeting any brand specifically and its mission is to "build great Cadillacs" that capture buyers based on the quality of its products and delivery on brand promise. The luxury brand reported a 21% increase in retail sales, with its EV segment up 37% in the first quarter of the year.

In California, a crucial market for EVs that's often seen as a bellwether state for the broader market, industry data shows Cadillac registrations jumped about 60% year over year, rising from 1,000 to 1,609 in the first quarter of 2025.

Tesla, which remains the EV market leader in the US by a large margin, has seen its sales decline recently in several countries.

The same data shows that Tesla registrations decreased 15% year-over-year in California, although its Model Y and Model 3 remain the top two selling EVs in the state, and the Model Y continues to be the best-selling car overall. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The rise in Cadillac EV ownership comes as Tesla faces a rocky start to the year. The EV giant fell short of revenue expectations in the first quarter, reporting a 9% year-over-year decline. Tesla's automotive revenue dropped 20% year over year, and the company backed away from its 2025 "return to growth" forecast for its auto business.

Tesla reported first-quarter deliveries numbers below analyst expectations and 13% lower than the same period last year. Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said in the company's earnings call last month that the assembly line changeover for the refreshed Model Y impacted delivery numbers. Anti-Tesla hostility also "had an impact in certain markets," he added.

Following months of boycott efforts aimed at Tesla, the automaker and SpaceX both saw declines in brand reputation, according to the Axios Harris Poll 100. Tesla dropped to 95th place, a decrease from its ranking in 63rd place last year and eighth place in 2021. Other automakers scored higher on the list compared to Tesla, with Ford landing at 60th and Volkswagen Group at 53rd.

Amid continued political backlash against Elon Musk and a challenging EV landscape, Cox Automotive data from April reveals Tesla's used-car sales volume rose 27% month-over-month, meaning that more Tesla owners are trying to sell their vehicles. The surge boosted its share of the used EV market to 47%, according to Cox Automotive's data.

Musk said in a recent interview at the Qatar Economic Forum that while the company has "lost some sales, perhaps on the left," Tesla also gained sales from the right.

"The sales numbers at this point are strong, and we see no problem with demand," Musk said, adding that the stock price is the best indicator of where the company stands.

Despite Tesla stock plummeting over 50% in March and being down 10% year-to-date, the automaker's share price is up 43% this month as the billionaire has taken a step back from his DOGE involvement.

While Tesla sales continue to drop in Europe, which Musk described in the forum as its weakest market, the automaker has seen some positive momentum. Cox Automotive data shows that Tesla was among the few manufacturers reporting month-over-month growth in EV sales. Tesla's market share increased by over 3% in April, according to the data, driven by 25,231 sales of the Model Y.

Tesla has raised the ire of some of its customers, who are accusing the carmaker of misleading them. Until recently, it would not allow customers who leased its EVs to purchase them at the end of the lease. Instead, the leases stated that it "plan[s] to use those vehicles in the Tesla ride-hailing network."

Tesla instituted that policy for Model 3 leases starting in 2019 and later expanded it to the Model Y until changing the policy last November. But Tesla is not currently sitting on a fleet of several hundred thousand ex-lease autonomous Models 3 and Y, and as of today there exists no actual Tesla ride-hailing network.

Instead, it has been spiffing up the ex-lease cars with software updates and then selling them to new customers, according to Reuters. And that has made some former leasers a little unhappy that their old EVs weren't pressed into service making money for Tesla on an ongoing basis but rather just as a one-time transaction.

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Comments

"We are an AI, robotics company," Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced last April. Despite the fact that the company's revenues are overwhelmingly derived from selling new electric vehicles, such prosaic activities hold no luster for the boss. Instead, Tesla's future, according to Musk, depends upon a (claimed) sub-$30,000 driverless two-seater, revealed to the world last October in a staged demonstration on a film set. But Musk's plans just hit a snag: The company must find some new names.

As spotted by Sean O'Kane at TechCrunch, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has informed Tesla that it will not be allowed to trademark the word "robotaxi" to describe the vehicle. According to the USPTO, the term is far too generic. Indeed, a Google n-gram search shows a steady growth in the use of "robotaxi" starting more than a decade ago.

According to the USPTO, the term is merely descriptive. The agency cites evidence from Wikipedia, The Verge, and the Amazon-backed autonomous vehicle startup Zoox in its denial of Tesla's trademark application.

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• Tesla sales fell by up to 81% in some key European EV markets in April, signaling a major downturn.
• Growing competition from rivals like China's BYD have affected Tesla sales.
• Demand may have also been hurt by a backlash over Elon Musk's politics.

Tesla has seen a sharp decline in sales in key European markets, with electric vehicle registrations dropping by up to 81% in six major markets in April, compared to the same month last year.

Car registration figures for France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, and Denmark, revealed double-digit declines for Tesla sales, Reuters reported.

Many of these are high-income countries with robust charging infrastructure — typically fertile ground for Tesla.

Sales fell by 59% year-on-year in France, 81% in Sweden, 74% in the Netherlands, 50% in Switzerland, 33% in Portugal, and 67% in Denmark.

The main exceptions were Norway and Italy, which respectively saw a 12% and 29% increase in Tesla sales compared to April 2024, registration data from the Norwegian Road Federation and Italian Transport Ministry showed.

However, Italian sales were still down an overall 4% in the first four months of 2025, per the Transport Ministry.

Why the two countries didn't follow a similar pattern of decline was unclear, and the overall trend suggests a significant drop-off in crucial markets.

This could partly be attributed to political tensions tied to Elon Musk's divisive role in the Trump administration and advocacy for right-wing European parties.

The "Tesla Takedown" movement arose earlier this year after Musk voiced support for parties including Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany.

So far this year, two Tesla sites, including the vehicles there, were defaced with orange paint in the Swedish cities of Stockholm and Malmö, as well as the Tesla branch in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Demonstrations against Musk and Tesla were held across cities in the Netherlands, and protestors also gathered outside Tesla showrooms in Portugal and Denmark. A further 12 Teslas were set on fire in Toulouse, France.

Alongside resistance to Musk and his politics, the Tesla drop-off in Europe could linked to growing competition in the EV market, notably from Chinese firms.

Tesla's aging model lineup has struggled to match newer EVs from rivals like China's BYD, whose models feature cutting-edge charging speeds and lower prices.

Professor Peter Wells, director of Cardiff University's Centre for Automotive Industry Research, told the BBC News in March: "We've not seen the level of innovation in terms of the product range that perhaps Elon Musk should have been looking for. I think that is a big part of their problem."

In a 2011 interview with Bloomberg, Musk rejected the possibility of BYD becoming a viable competitor.

But last year, BYD reported $107 billion in revenue, compared to Tesla's $98 billion. It also reported its first-quarter earnings increased 100% compared to the same period last year.

BYD has rolled out 1,000 kW chargers that are four times more powerful than Tesla's current chargers. These chargers, it says, can add 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes of charging.

The Tesla rival has also aggressively expanded outside China in recent years.

Tesla's dominance in Europe is waning — and reversing the trend may be Musk's toughest challenge yet.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.