TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The feud between Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump has resulted in a loss of US$34 billion or about Rp552 trillion. Their conflict was sparked by Elon Musk's opposition to Trump's policies. This dispute has raised concerns about the future of Tesla and its potential impact on his other ventures amid political tensions.
According to NDTV, the publicized feud of Elon Musk on the internet has posed a threat to his status as the world's richest person. His recent loss amounted to US$34 billion, marking the second largest loss in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the world's 500 richest people. Elon Musk had previously experienced substantial losses in November 2021.
Elon Musk, who still holds the title of the world's richest person with a net worth of US$334.5 billion, has suffered losses before. However, his stakes are higher than ever in his competition with Trump. Former President Trump had proposed to terminate the contracts between the US government and Elon Musk, which could potentially impact the earnings of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX.
However, Elon Musk responded lightly to Trump's threats. He quoted Clint Eastwood's statement in the film Sudden Impact, saying, "Go ahead, make my day." He also baselessly accused Trump of being mentioned in files related to the late New York financier, Jeffrey Epstein.
He then stated that SpaceX would start disabling the Dragon spacecraft, a crucial route to space for the US. Dragon, Musk's company, transports cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station. Approximately five hours later, Elon Musk retracted his decision.
This war of words is a stark contrast to several months after Trump's victory in the general election. At that time, Elon Musk's net worth reached an all-time high, approaching US$500 billion. The value of his company surged, driven by the belief that Tesla would benefit from the billionaire's relationship with Trump and his role as the head of the Government Efficiency Department. However, Elon Musk officially left Washington last week.
Trump and Elon Musk Not Speaking
The rift between Trump and Elon Musk continues to escalate. On Friday, June 6, 2025, Trump stated that he had no plans to speak with billionaire Elon Musk after their dispute became public this week. "No, I have no plans," Trump told reporters on Friday night, as reported by NBC News. He was asked if he intended to contact his former advisor.
When asked about his views on Musk, Trump said, "I'm not thinking about Elon. You know, I'm just wishing him the best." Trump added that he was not interested in reconciling with the Tesla CEO.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told NBC News the previous day that Trump would not be making a phone call on Friday to Elon Musk. "There are no plans for that today," Wiles said. She responded to a Politico report that White House aides had scheduled a phone call on Friday with Musk in an attempt to resolve issues with Trump.
People in the White House expect Elon Musk to ease the situation before a permanent de-escalation occurs. Trump will not back down from the bill that Elon Musk vehemently opposes.
Cause of the Division
The division between Trump and Musk occurred after tensions with other technology billionaires and others in the Trump administration during Musk's tenure at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Someone close to Trump said that Elon Musk and Wiles did not have a good relationship. An anonymous source stated that they believed there would be a movement within the government to remove some DOGE personnel in various offices.
The quarrel between Trump and Elon Musk started on Thursday when Trump criticized Musk's recent attack on the Republican Party's policy step regarding the anticipated increase in the deficit. The criticism escalated into a major outburst that sent shockwaves through Congress and Tesla's stock prices.
"I'm very disappointed because Elon Musk knows the ins and outs of this bill better than almost anyone in this room, better than all of you," Trump told reporters in the Oval Room during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"I'm very disappointed in Elon Musk," Trump said. "I've done a lot for Elon."
Elon Musk earlier this week referred to the bill from the Trump administration as a "Glorious and Wonderful" abomination. He was upset because the bill cut the tax credits applied by the Biden administration to incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles.
Musk denied knowing about the law. "Wrong, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the middle of the night so quickly that almost no one in Congress could read it!" Musk said in a post on X.
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