Washington [US], June 7: Once close allies, US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are fiercely criticizing each other, but if they continue to "fight" each other, both sides may be harmed.
By last night (June 6, Vietnam time), billionaire Elon Musk, owner of electric car company Tesla and space exploration technology corporation SpaceX and social network X, began to show signs of "backing down" in his war of words with President Donald Trump .
Tension between two "bosses"
Through the social network X , Mr. Musk responded in agreement with billionaire Bill Ackman's call to "make peace" with President Trump. In addition, billionaire Musk expressed his intention to ignore the intention to stop operating the Dragon spacecraft - developed by SpaceX and currently the only vehicle in the US capable of taking astronauts into space. Previously, he announced the suspension of the Dragon spacecraft after President Trump threatened that the US government could terminate all contracts with billionaire Musk's companies.
The tension between the two men erupted on social media after Musk sharply criticized the Republican budget bill, which Trump strongly supported. President Trump said Musk 's reaction to the budget bill was because the White House had withdrawn subsidies for the electric car industry, where Tesla is a strong player. The White House owner accused the Tesla boss of acting in this way for personal gain.
Since then, President Trump and billionaire Musk, who both own their own social networks, TruthSocial and X, have been constantly arguing with each other. The two social media "bosses" have lost control when exchanging words.
Billionaire Musk claimed that without him, President Trump would have lost the election in November 2024, and the Republican Party would have "no chance" of taking control of the US Senate. More shockingly, billionaire Musk accused Mr. Trump of being involved in a child prostitution ring led by businessman Jeffrey Epstein (who has died), so the Trump administration avoided releasing the case's records.
Not only that, the billionaire also called for the impeachment of the White House owner, and criticized President Trump's tax policy as causing an economic recession. At the climax, through X, the owner of Tesla car company organized a poll of his 200 million followers on whether to form a political party that truly represents the 80% of the middle class. In just 24 hours, 80% of the 4.7 million voters supported billionaire Musk to form a political party.
Simmering disagreement?
Since April, when he was still in the White House team, billionaire Musk has criticized President Trump's tax policy - created by Trade Advisor Peter Navarro. At that time, through X, billionaire Musk implied that Mr. Navarro - a PhD from Harvard University (USA) - tends to make policies based on personal ego rather than reason. Mr. Musk even agreed with the opinion of economist Thomas Sowell that "in every disaster in American history, it seems that there is always someone from Harvard at the center". Specifically, Mr. Musk responded that the above comment was correct. At the same time, speaking online at an Italian conference, billionaire Musk also called for the formation of a US-EU tariff-free zone. This also goes against President Trump's views.
In fact, if tensions between the White House and Tesla are not resolved, the confrontation between the owner of the White House and the owner of the car company will harm both. Specifically, billionaire Musk can use financial resources and the power of the social network X to attack President Trump; SpaceX can stop cooperation with the government, causing difficulties for the US space program. Or the most stressful scenario is that the billionaire will actually form his own political party to make things difficult for Mr. Trump's Republican Party.
On the contrary, President Trump also has the power to attack billionaire Musk. Recently, Mr. Steve Bannon - a close ally of President Trump - spoke out calling for an investigation into the immigration status of billionaire Musk (who is originally from South Africa and holds dual citizenship in the US and Canada). Advisor Bannon also suggested investigating Mr. Musk's frequent use of addictive substances. Furthermore, the White House can also launch many investigations into billionaire Musk's personal and business activities.
Therefore, with their existing pragmatism, President Trump and billionaire Musk will probably not let tensions become more serious.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
