WASHINGTON DC – In yesteryear, an ongoing confrontation between the most powerful man on earth and the richest man on earth would have been the stuff of a Hollywood action movie.
In America today, the outcome of the tussle between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk may yet determine the nation’s destiny.
As Trump prepares to confront anti-deportation demonstrators in Los Angeles, and maps out next Saturday’s massive military parade in Washington marking the 250th anniversary of the US Army’s formation (which, quite by chance, occurs on the same day as the President’s 79th birthday), he is demonstrably cloaking himself in the powers of his office in order to shift the conversation away from his dispute with Musk.
On Saturday afternoon, the White House disclosed that Trump would unexpectedly spend Sunday at Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains.
According to White House officials, his visits there will now “become a regular off-campus retreat of principals attended by the President and the Vice President”.
Musk, meanwhile, spent his time in his natural milieu: on his social media platform ‘X’, again promoting the idea that since his relationship with Trump is ruptured, he might bankroll a new centrist political party (the “America Party”) to attract disaffected Republicans and Democrats alike.
He also quietly cleaned up his social media feed, deleting explosive messages that he posted only on Thursday asserting that Trump’s name is contained in unreleased documents relating to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Both men have a vast arsenal of weapons to use upon each other. But, like nuclear warfare, a further escalation of their brawl could result in mutually assured destruction.
Trump on Thursday hinted at the possibility of cancelling Musk’s many contracts with the federal government. So far, his businesses have received a whopping $38 billion in government payments, with most of that money focused on Space X, his rocket-launching enterprise.
In 2024 alone, his businesses earned $6.3 billion from its government contracts, a number that – before the falling-out with Trump – was expected to grow substantially in 2025.
Elon Musk has deleted some of his posts on X, including references related to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)But any move by Trump to cancel all of Musk’s contracts would risk backfiring on the government itself. NASA is relying on SpaceX to return American astronauts to the Moon, and in March turned to the company to rescue crew members who were stranded on the International Space Station.
Musk’s internet business “Starlink” is now being used by several government agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration.
And it was revealed only this weekend that the company’s terminals are even providing wi-fi access across previously dead zones of the White House compound.
One other weapon in Trump’s armoury would see the government retain Musk’s contracts, but appoint muscular regulators to oversee his enterprises’ activities.
During his time leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Musk fired many of the regulators who had dogged his corporate footsteps. Notwithstanding Trump’s personal antipathy to the concept of regulation, he could choose to release the hounds on his former protégé.
Musk’s power lies in the size of his fortune, and his ongoing popularity with the “Make America Great Again” faithful.
square WORLD AnalysisHow Trump and Musk's explosive feud could escalate further
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In the days leading up to his bust-up with Trump, polling showed that 77 per cent of Republican voters had a favorable view of him, a number that may be dented by his voluble departure from Trump’s inner circle.
Within Republican circles, Musk could capitalise on his standing by waging war on lawmakers who are up for re-election in November 2026 and who choose to back Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, the tax-and-spending proposals that Musk deems a “massive, disgusting abomination”.
Musk previously indicated a willingness to fund primary challengers to lawmakers opposed to Trump’s agenda. Now, he has the financial muscle to pivot, and try to take down lawmakers who ignore the Musk critique of the President’s budgetary plans.
Even by threatening to bankroll a centrist party, he is indicating a determination to remain in the political fray. But among independents and registered Democrats, his brand has been so tarnished by his actions in government that he may not enjoy the personal appeal needed to rally disaffected voters to a third party cause.
Trump insists he has no plans to settle the row by speaking directly with Musk. On Friday he claimed his former partner-in-crime had “gone crazy”, and told reporters that he’s “not even thinking about Elon” as he tries to pivot away from the breakup.
But prominent figures within Trumpworld are less forgiving. The President’s former political adviser Steve Bannon, a long-time Musk critic, is urging Trump to deport the South African-born billionaire, and seize his businesses in order to neutralise him once-and-for-all.
Trump shows no signs of taking up Bannon’s proposed nuclear option, and may choose more nuanced ways of cutting Musk down to size and out of the MAGA firmament.
The President is hoping that the powers of his office can reduce Musk to nothing more than an irritant. But in a clash of the titans, you cannot count out either of the two quixotic figures currently dominating America’s national political conversation.
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