Trump and Musk: From Alliance to Confrontation to Truce

The relationship between US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the American billionaire founder of Tesla and X, has gone through complex phases, shifting from criticism to close cooperation to public conflict. Today, it has become one of the most controversial relationships in US political and economic circles.

2016-2017

The relationship between Elon Musk and US President Trump began in 2016, when Musk expressed doubts about Trump, describing him as “not the right man” for the presidency. Despite this stance, Musk joined Trump’s two economic advisory councils in January 2017, but resigned after the announcement of the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.

2018-2020

In May 2020, during the COVID-19 crisis, Trump praised Musk’s efforts to keep Tesla factories open. In July 2022, the relationship deteriorated again. During 2022, Elon Musk purchased X and reinstated Trump’s account, leading to a relative truce.

2024 Musk Supports US President

Following a failed assassination attempt on Trump, Musk announced his full support for US President Trump. The billionaire spent $250 million to help Donald Trump win the 2024 presidential election. He later appeared alongside Trump in a live broadcast on the X platform and proposed the creation of a new department called the Ministry of Government Efficiency. In December 2024, Musk was appointed co-chair of the Ministry of Government Efficiency alongside conservative politician Vivek Ramaswamy, with the aim of reducing government spending. June 2025: The Public Clashes

In early June of this year, disagreements erupted between the two sides, with Musk attacking Trump’s new federal budget proposal and directly criticizing Trump. The resulting dispute affected markets, particularly Tesla shares. On June 11, Elon Musk posted an apology on the X platform, saying he had “crossed the line” and expressing regret for his statements about Trump. Trump welcomed the billionaire’s apology, and indicated that government contracts signed with his companies would not be canceled. On June 12, the Wall Street Journal reported that US Vice President J.D. Vance and White House Chief of Staff Suzi Wiles intervened to persuade Musk to calm the situation through two phone calls between the two parties.

Government Contracts Binding Musk to the State

According to an analysis conducted by the Washington Post, Musk and his companies have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax breaks over the years.

According to the newspaper’s data, approximately two-thirds of this amount was awarded in the last five years alone. In 2024, Musk’s companies received more than $6.3 billion from federal and local governments, the highest amount to date.

Since 2016, SpaceX has received more than $1 billion annually from the government, and this figure has ranged between $2 billion and $4 billion annually from 2021 to 2024. Tesla, on the other hand, has been receiving more than $1 billion annually since 2020.

SpaceX’s most significant contracts with the U.S. government include existing contracts worth up to $22 billion with agencies such as NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense, a $2.89 billion contract to develop the human landing system for NASA’s Artemis program, a $1.15 billion contract to develop a second lunar lander for NASA, a $102 million contract with the U.S. Air Force to develop the Payload Rocket Program, and a $1.8 billion contract with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to develop a spy satellite network for the Starshield program. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and X, saw his fortune rise by $191 million, reaching $411.4 billion, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires Index.

This remarkable increase came after he publicly apologized to US President Donald Trump on Wednesday for previous posts in which he directly attacked him.

Musk had written a post on X, saying: “I regret some of my posts about President Trump last week. I went too far.”