Trump and Musk lose billions, reputations after online duel
- Alexangel Ventura
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Both Donald Trump and Elon Musk lost billions in market cap and cryptocurrency value after the bitter contest online on June 5th.
Starting from the beginning of the stock trading day and persisting afterwards, the two billionaires lost a substantial amount of money each as they took to social media to make world-changing threats. Elon Musk through his massive stake in Tesla lost around $26.6 billion according to The Wrap because of the falling of the Tesla market cap by $380.3 billion, equating to a 14.3% drop. President Trump lost several million to up to a billion dollars in total due to his cryptocurrency $TRUMP falling 12% and Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) falling by about 8%.
The duel started around yesterday when Elon Musk criticized the "Big Beautiful Bill" which passed in the House and was then expected to have a vote in the Senate. The Republican Party, with their majority in the Senate, were expected to get the vote passed after Trump would sign the bill ultimately. But Elon Musk hoped to rally up a sizeable enough Republican majority to prevent the bill's passage. The bill's intended objective was to fulfill the president's campaign promises; this included making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 permanent, cutting taxes on tips and overtime for those making less than $160,000, but also expanding on these tax cuts. In addition, it would cut Medicaid benefits to millions of Americans.
Musk, being a key proponent of cutting the national deficit to subsequently stop the rise of the national debt, resented the Trump-backed bill because it is expected to increase the national deficit by around $2 trillion over the next decade. Sticking to his principles, he attacked Trump for the first time in their cordial relationship, urging Americans to call their elected officials to urge them to not vote for the bill. Trump, in response, made threats on Truth Social to end federal subsidies on Musk's own SpaceX. Then, Musk charged back by threatening to remove all SpaceX operations for the United States government and making unproved claims that the president was on the Epstein list.
The duel not only broke their nearly year-long political alliance but also tarnished each of their respective reputations. Many people now view Trump as "unpresidential" while Elon seemed aggressive. In addition, their companies, from Tesla to Trump Media, have also had their reputations tarnished as their highest-ranking officers/shareholders have shown to have such online temperaments.
Some Republicans joined Musk's coalition against the BBB. Rand Paul stated on X, "If the bill were solely about making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, I wouldn't be a yes; I'd be a hell yes. Unfortunately, that's not the reality with this bill. It includes the largest increase of the debt ceiling ever and will have the United States borrowing $5T over the next 2 years. This bill is the opposite of conservative, and we should not pass it."
Also, key Republican congressman Thomas Massie led the opposition by stating, "The Big Beautiful Bill is a debt bomb ticking. It’s also the biggest missed opportunity conservatives have ever had to put our country back on a track of fiscal sanity. If we defeat this bill, a better one can be offered that won’t bankrupt our country [in response to a Tweet by Musk about the 'BBB']."
