Cameron Henderson US Reporter. Connor Stringer Deputy US Editor. Benedict Smith. Alex Singleton Business Reporter
06 June 2025
Elon Musk has called for the impeachment of Donald Trump after claiming the president is named in secret files the US government holds on the disgraced paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein
The world’s most powerful men entered a war of words in full public view on Thursday, trading barbs from their respective social media platforms.
The Tesla boss responded “yes” to a user on X who wrote: “Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him.”
He earlier wrote:
Time to drop the really big bomb:
is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!
Mr Trump in turn threatened to cancel all of the Tesla and SpaceX owner’s government contracts, while Mr Musk said he will decommission his Dragon spacecraft which is used by Nasa to deliver and collect astronauts from the International Space Station.
The president’s aides arranged a flurry of meetings to address the fallout with White House staff reportedly preparing to force allies to pick sides between the president and his former adviser, according to The New York Times.
An administration official said Mr Musk is “clearly having an episode”.
Steve Bannon, Mr Trump’s former adviser, encouraged the president to initiate a formal investigation into Mr Musk’s immigration status and have him “deported from the country immediately”.
Mr Trump kicked off the verbal sparring during an Oval Office sit-down with the German chancellor earlier in the day, saying the Tesla boss had “Trump derangement syndrome”. Mr Musk shot back saying the president only won the election because of his support.
Tesla shares tanked as the rift intensified. Investors in the electric car company, which closed down 14.3pc, fear that Mr Trump might hinder the roll-out of self-driving cars in the US, hitting the company’s growth potential.
Musk net worth plummets by $34 billion
Elon Musk’s net worth has plunged by billions of dollars as his relationship with Donald Trump spectacularly disintegrated
Mr Musk is still the world’s richest man, but he lost $34 billion between markets opening and closing on Thursday as Tesla shares nosedived by some 14 per cent, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
It marks the second-steepest fall in the index’s history.
Investors appear to have been spooked by Mr Trump’s threat to strip Mr Musk’s companies of their government contracts and subsidies, which he claimed would save the government “billions and billions of dollars”.
Donald Trump should seize SpaceX, says Steve Bannon
Steve Bannon has urged Donald Trump to seize control of SpaceX before midnight tonight.
The former Trump adviser told his War Room podcast: “President Trump tonight should sign an executive order calling for the defence production act.
“Seize SpaceX tonight before midnight.”
Mr Bannon added: “He said he’s going to take down their primary product. Fine. Do what you want to do, but we’re seizing it tonight at midnight, and the government’s going to step in and manage this thing for a while, until we can get some stable management.”
The defence production act, used during the Cold War, gives congressional approval for the president to take control of domestic industries for national defence.
Trump’s cabinet stay quiet
Members of Donald Trump’s cabinet have remained tellingly silent after Elon Musk’s outburst against the president.
Mr Trump’s cabinet are known for their pugnacious approach to dealing with dissenters, frequently rubbishing the reputation of their opponents.
Yet thus far, the only reaction from the president himself has been to say he wished Mr Musk had turned against him “months ago”.
Sticking to the party line, Karoline Leavitt, the outspoken White House press secretary, posted a muted solidarity message on X, resharing the president’s comments.
Marjorie Taylor Greene throws support behind Trump
Marjorie Taylor Greene has thrown her weight behind Donald Trump amid the US president’s public spat with Elon Musk.
“There is absolutely no daylight between Congresswoman Greene and President Trump,” a spokesman for Ms Taylor Greene told Newsweek, citing a recent post on her social media account in which she said she voted for Mr Trump in last year’s election and “not anyone else”.
The intervention is significant from the Georgia congresswoman, a Republican firebrand who is often seen as the voice of Mr Trump’s base.
She was also one of Mr Musk’s closest allies in Congress, as chair of the House of Representatives’ Doge subcommittee, which was set up to support the Tesla billionaire’s moves to cut billions of dollars in government spending.
Ms Taylor Greene last month voted for the “one big, beautiful bill” that proved the split in Mr Musk’s relationship with Mr Trump, but has since said she would oppose it over a clause that would limit state powers to regulate artificial intelligence companies.
Social media erupts over Musk vs Trump row
Social media has erupted after Elon Musk declared war on Donald Trump in a series of explosive posts on X.
Mr Musk’s post accusing the president of being implicated in the Epstein files has received more than 16 million impressions and generated a host of memes.
A post from February in which Mr Musk said he loves the president “as much as a straight man can love another man”, has been widely shared, after the pairs relationship came crashing down.
Others have quipped that Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin have offered to mediate their fallout, in a nod to the US’s role in ceasefire negotiations.
Meanwhile, Piers Morgan offered to invite the president and world’s richest man on his show to resolve their differences.
“If you guys want to come on @PiersUncensored and duke this out for a few hours, I’ll make it happen..,” the television host wrote on X.
Musk unfollows key Trump allies
Elon Musk has rebuked key Trump allies by unfollowing them on social media.
The Tesla billionaire earlier unfollowed Stephen Miller, Mr Trump’s deputy chief of staff. Mr Miller, whose wife works as an adviser for Doge, has in recent days publicly disagreed with Mr Musk over his comments on the administration’s spending bill.
The SpaceX founder has also unfollowed Charlie Kirk, a pro-Maga activist, who earlier hosted Mr Miller on his podcast.
Row hits Wall Street as investors turn cautious
American shares fell today as Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s falling out intensified.
The main S&P 500 index dropped by more than 0.5pc – having been in positive territory earlier – while the technology-dominated Nasdaq dropped 0.8pc.
Investors in Tesla, which closed down 14.3pc, fear that Mr Trump might hinder the roll-out of self-driving cars in the US, hitting the company’s growth potential.
“There is a fear that Trump is not going to play Mr Nice Guy when it comes to autonomous [cars],” said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. “The whole goal of robotaxis is to have them in 20 or 25 cities next year. If you start to heighten the regulatory environment, that could delay that path.”
Meanwhile, Wall Street’s so-called “fear gauge”, the Vix, rose nearly 5pc as traders became more nervous about the future of the US economy.
In the bond market, the effective cost of US government borrowing rose, with 10-year US Treasury notes rising to 4.395pc from 4.359pc yesterday night.
Trump advisers ‘force allies to pick sides’
Donald Trump’s advisers are reportedly prepared to force allies to pick sides in his escalating row with Elon Musk.
Aides of the president are gearing up to go to war with his former adviser after a simmering row between two of the world’s most powerful men exploded on social media, according to The New York Times.
Close allies of the president are said to have held multiple meetings today to deal with the fallout from Mr Musk’s posts on X.
Meanwhile, allies of the tech billionaire are allegedly in a state of disbelief, saying they are glued to their screens and unsure what his strategy is.
Musk predicts recession within months
Elon Musk has predicted the US will go into recession within months, following Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
“The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year,” Mr Musk wrote on X.
The Tesla billionaire previously called Mr Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro “dumber than a sack of bricks” for masterminding the tariffs policy, as he sought to secure an exemption.
In filings with the US Trade Representative, SpaceX previously said it was currently unable to procure the equipment in the US and that they helped support American manufacturing.
The Bannonite wing of Maga celebrate
Elon Musk’s libertarian, internationalist instincts were viewed with suspicion by a big chunk of the Maga coalition from the start.
Steve Bannon, the populist broadcaster and former White House strategist, was one of the loudest voices opposed to his role, calling him a “parasitic illegal immigrant.”
They are celebrating tonight.
“Trump should waste no time canceling any and all SpaceX, Tesla, and X contracts with the U.S. government,” said Raheem Kassam, editor of the National Pulse and close ally of Mr Bannon.
Musk contracts could be cancelled
An attempt by Donald Trump to axe government contracts with Elon Musk’s companies would be easier said than done.
Mr Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”
However, a breakdown in relations between the US government and Mr Musk’s SpaceX could cause serious problems for Nasa.
SpaceX plays a critical role in the US government’s space programme. Its Falcon 9 rockets are reusable and relatively cheap, making Mr Musk’s company the world’s most popular launch provider.
Nasa has come to rely on SpaceX, noting that it has saved the agency billions of dollars.
Steve Bannon urges Trump to deport Musk
Steve Bannon has reportedly urged Donald Trump to deport Elon Musk as retribution for the tech billionaire’s outburst.
The former Trump adviser, who has been a vocal critic of Mr Musk in recent months, has also advised the president to cancel all of the Tesla and SpaceX owner’s government contracts, according to The New York Times.
“They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,” he told the paper.
Bannon said the Trump administration should also investigate Mr Musk’s drug use and efforts to access a classified briefing on China, and added that the billionaire’s security clearance should be suspended.
The host of the War Room podcast previously clashed with Mr Musk over skilled immigrant visas, calling the former Doge head a “toddler” for threatening to “go to war” over the issue.
Watch: Trump meets Epstein at a party
Woman testified Epstein introduced her to Trump
A woman testifying at Maxwell’s 2020 trial under the pseudonym Jane claimed Epstein took her to meet Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort when she was just 14.
She did not allege any improper behaviour by Mr Trump and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most high-profile victims, claimed she was working at Mar-a-Lago as a locker room attendant when she was “recruited” by Maxwell.
Ms Giuffre took her own life at the age of 41 in April.
Trump once called Epstein ‘terrific guy’
Conspiracy theorists have been abuzz with details of Donald Trump’s relationship with the paedophile since the horrors of his crimes first came to light.
Elon Musk today added fuel to the fire by claiming Mr Trump’s name appears in a government dossier on the disgraced financier and sharing old footage of the two men together.
While the pair knew of each other for decades, there were no new revelations in the so-called Epstein Files released by the administration earlier this year.
Despite the misinformation, Mr Trump was at one point friends with Epstein.
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002, before there were any public allegations of wrongdoing.
“He’s a lot of fun to be with,” Trump said then. “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” he added.
A clip from the NBC archives showed the two chatting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, pointing out women on the dance floor in 1992.
The pair were also at an event at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, along with future first lady Melania and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for grooming teenage girls to be abused by Epstein.
Pictured: Donald Trump once welcomed Epstein to beach resort
The clip headed “Watch: Trump meets Epstein at a party” clearly demonstrates a close camaraderie between Trump-Epstein.
“He’s a lot of fun to be with,” Trump said then. “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” he added.”
Oh what a giveaway.
“There is absolutely no daylight between Congresswoman Greene and President Trump…..”
Since Moscow Marge is a vile trailer trash nazi who loves putler and wants Ukraine dead, that is a very, very terrible thing.
Musk wants Trump impeached and replaced by Vance.
From the Ukrainian perspective, it would be like replacing Putler with Medvedev.
Convicted criminal nazi-saluting Bannonov is clearly seeking to replace Ivan Muskovy as “First Buddy.”
Bannon would be Trump’s own Alexandr Dugin.
In fact Bannon enjoys a close friendship with the ruZZian nazi and genocide advocate.
There is an expression in Russia, “to behave like spiders in a jar”, used to describe a scenario when predators begin to cannibalise one another if placed in an enclosed space. This is what appears now to happening within the Trump regime.
But there is nothing good in it for Ukraine.
Kremlin asset Musk’s money and Z (aka X) platform got Trump back into power. That’s a 100% certainty.
In the UK, it is Musk who has brought trumputler shill Farage to the brink of power.
However, in a bizarre parallel, Musk has now fallen out with Farage and may plot against him.
The reason is because Farage refused to allow the putler-rimming nazi Tommy Robinson in his party.
You couldn’t make it up!
Epstein’s girlfriend and procurer of underage girls for him, Ghislaine Maxwell (seen in the pic with Epstein, Trump and Melania) is the daughter of the Russian-speaking Czech master-criminal Robert Maxwell, who cultivated close links with Russia.
Two of Trump’s wives are Russian-speakers from dubious family backgrounds.
Trump’s links with Russia go back at least 45 years.
Ghislaine is seeking a pardon from Trump:
“They all know how close she once was to him. She tells people often enough. But what started out as a tongue-in-cheek comment has gained momentum, and now friends on the outside are asking what has she to lose. She has maintained loyalty to Trump not telling anyone about his friendship with her and Jeffrey. And we all know how he rewards people who are loyal to him.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/donald-trump-pardon-bid-jailed-34776278
It’s not often I agree with the drug addict, but, yes, Taco should be impeached, but never replaced by the fat-headed bimbo called Vance, who should be impeached right along with Taco.