Trump Says Musk Has 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' As Battle Over Bill Heats Up: 'Had A Great Relationship… Don't Know If We Will Anymore'

A friendship between President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk may be coming to an end, with a heated public falling out due to the "big beautiful bill."

What Happened: Musk helped the White House administration in the Department of Government Efficiency and was a close ally of Trump during his first 100+ days in the White House.

The billionaire, who is the world's richest man, publicly endorsed Trump for the 2024 presidential election and donated hundreds of millions to the campaign to get him elected.

The public friendship may now be coming apart, as Musk has vocally opposed the "Big Beautiful Bill," which would increase government spending and debt.

On Thursday, Trump said Musk isn't the first admirer to later turn on him. "It's sorta Trump Derangement Syndrome, they call it," the president said.

Trump said that sometimes people wake up, change their minds, and become hostile toward him.

“I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here… He had no problem with it, all of the sudden he had a problem, and he only developed a problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the EV mandate.”

Trump said while Musk hasn't said anything bad about him personally, he thinks that could be next.

"I'm very disappointed in Elon."

Trump added that the EV mandate would provide money to help the sector, which is "having a hard time." The president also said Musk wanted someone "he knew very well" to head NASA, a likely reference to Jared Isaacman, who Trump recently withdrew as the NASA administrator nominee.

Musk took to social media platform X to share his side of the story.

"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 tweeted.

Another tweet from Musk encouraged Congress to "ditch the mountain of disgusting pork in the bill."

"Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way."

Musk also said "whatever" to the EV incentive cuts and said the cuts could be kept in the bill even though oil and gas subsidies weren't cut.

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Why It's Important: The latest comments from Trump and Musk come after Musk shared several old tweets from the president on X that could be shading him over his support for the "Big Beautiful Bill."

Musk shared an old 2013 tweet of Trump's that read, "I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling – I am a Republican & I am embarrassed."

Musk also shared an old 2012 tweet from Trump that said, "No member of Congress should be eligible for re-election if our country's budget is not balanced – deficits not allowed."

The new bill, which is in the Senate and could have changes made, is estimated to add $5 trillion to the national debt in the coming years based on estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

Things may have escalated further on Thursday when Musk responded to a post in which Trump claimed he would have won the key swing state of Pennsylvania without the billionaire's help.

Musk thinks this is the opposite.

"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude," Musk tweeted.

Trump's comments on Thursday suggest the friendship could be over.

"Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," Trump said.

TSLA Price Action: Electric vehicle company Tesla Inc TSLA has had a bumpy road for its stock price with Musk's relationship with the president. The stock soared after Trump's win and fell in 2025 with brand damage done and protests hitting the company and dealerships over Musk's political interests.

Tesla stock fell after Trump's comments Thursday and shares are down 7% to $308.78 at the time of writing. Tesla stock is down 18.8% year-to-date in 2025 with shares down over 13% in the last five days.

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