Elon Musk just launched a war against the GOP. Now the party’s hopes of holding onto power are at stake.
Musk has gone from helping Republicans take total control of Washington — spending nearly $300 million to become the single biggest known donor last year — to attacking the highest-ranking leaders of the party and daring the rank and file to cross him.
“Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years,” Musk said on X.
The post was an unambiguous warning from the world's richest man, who has the power to single-handedly reshape elections with his wealth. It was not long ago that Republicans hoped Musk could pour cash into their efforts to help maintain control of Washington. Instead, he’s becoming their public adversary.
Musk spent Thursday online attacking President Donald Trump over Republicans’ massive tax-and-spending bill, which Musk says does not cut enough government spending.
He’d already threatened to challenge Republicans who support the megabill; on Thursday, he blasted House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, took credit for Republicans winning trifecta control in November, and floated the idea of launching a third party.
“This is a massive crack in the MAGA coalition,” said Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and a former Trump administration appointee. “This town is historically built on Republican versus Democrat, and this seems to be crazy versus crazy. It is asymmetric and it seems, for the first time, President Trump seems to be out-crazied.”
Just a few weeks ago, Republicans were still praising Musk for his financial backing in the 2024 election as they hoped he'd make a graceful return to the private sector after overseeing the administration's program to slash federal spending. Less than one week ago, Musk was in the Oval Office with Trump commemorating his time in administration as a special government employee.
But that polite departure, it quickly became evident, was not going to happen.
"Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave," Trump wrote on Truth Social, blaming Musk’s anger on the megabill’s removal of electric vehicle tax credits. “He just went CRAZY!”
As Musk’s drama engulfed the party Thursday, Republicans in Congress mostly tried to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Key GOP lawmakers in both chambers worked to downplay the potential effects on both the party’s domestic policy package and on the GOP’s midterms posture.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), who leads the House GOP campaign arm, told reporters Thursday that he hopes the spat will “blow over.” Before the breakup went nuclear, Hudson had said in a brief interview Wednesday evening that Musk has “been a friend and he’s just wrong about this bill.”
Even fiscal hard-liners who have embraced some of Musk’s talking points about the bill tried to avoid getting drawn into the fracas. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who at one point threatened to tank the megabill for not being fiscally conservative enough, said, "Elon crossed the line today ... we'll let those guys go play it out."
"I don't disagree with him about our need to find more spending cuts," Roy added, but Musk needs to "keep it in the lines."
Another hard-liner, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), said he believes Musk is losing sway within MAGA. Musk is “just another shiny object,” he said, “and we’ll deal with it.”
But Musk appeared intent on turning his opposition to the legislation into a civil war for the party. He amplified two Kentucky Republicans, Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul, who have been thorns in the side of Trump and GOP leaders trying to pass the bill.
Even though Musk brought massive financial backing, he has also at times been an electoral problem for Republicans. His popularity has fallen below Trump’s, and his biggest political effort this year — the Wisconsin Supreme Court race — ended with the conservative candidate losing by almost 10 points.
“Elon couldn’t buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat. You really think that people are gonna be afraid of this money?” said a person close to the White House, granted anonymity to discuss the dynamics.
As Musk’s popularity faded, Republicans wondered how long his relationship with Trump could endure. On Thursday, Musk severed ties.
He took shot after shot at Trump, accusing him of lying, replying “yes” to a post suggesting he should be impeached, and accusing him of having a cozy relationship with the deceased Jeffrey Epstein, who had been accused of sex trafficking.
"What a predictable shitshow," said a person who has been in the room with both Musk and Trump. "Trump is a liar, and it was obvious Elon would not be able to go along with his incessant lying forever."
A nervous Republican Party is now scrambling to figure out what the electoral fallout will look like, starting with next year’s midterms.
Already, two of Trump's top campaign operatives, Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio had signed up to work with Musk's Building America's Future PAC. But Musk's scorched-earth strategy could create dueling allegiances.
Privately, some Republicans are arguing they had already been preparing for next year's elections without Musk's money, and complained that America PAC — the tech billionaire’s super PAC — didn't spend its money effectively in House races last year.
America PAC spent $19.2 million backing GOP candidates across 18 battleground House races last year, according to data from the Federal Election Commission. Republicans won 10 of those elections. But those were among the highest-profile and most expensive races in the country, and Musk’s group accounted for only 12 percent of Republican outside spending in them. It wasn’t even the biggest GOP spender — that was still the Congressional Leadership Fund, the primary super PAC affiliated with House Republicans.
“What Elon has is money, and if he’s not going to put $100 million in the [midterms], that’s a hole that has to be filled,” said Chris Mottola, a GOP media consultant. "On the other hand, there was a question about how effective the money was that he spent, because he spent it the way he wanted to."
Over the last few months, Musk has floated the idea of getting involved in the midterms, but he’s also claimed he would step back from political spending. If Musk is going to go all-in against the party, he’s going to need more than money.
“Are there enough good Republican operatives out there to go achieve this mission for Elon Musk when it means going up against the president?" said a former RNC official, granted anonymity to discuss the situation candidly. “Everybody’s got a price, but I don’t think they are rushing to go help Elon further divide the Republican Party ahead of the midterms.”
Lisa Kashinsky, Jessica Piper, Holly Otterbein, Dasha Burns, Nicholas Wu, Sophia Cai, Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
Bundespolitik: Trump nimmt laut Merz Einladung nach Deutschland an
Die Teams der beiden Politiker würden nun einen Termin suchen, kündigt der Bundeskanzler nach seinem Treffen mit dem US-Präsidenten an.Dimitri Taube (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
The tension between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk finally burst into the open Thursday, likely closing the chapter on one of the most significant alliances in recent political history.
In the wake of the schism, some Republicans are stuck in the middle debating their next moves. Do they side with Trump, the leader of the party whose influence and authority looms over so many aspects of life? Or do they back Musk, whose massive fortune could provide a boost to anyone running for reelection — or running to succeed Trump in 2028 — even as he threatens to withhold donations to lawmakers who back the Republican megabill? Could they attempt to appease both?
Musk, 53, is already drawing a future-forward line between himself and Trump, 78, and urging Republicans to come to his side.
“Some food for thought as they ponder this question,” Musk wrote on X in response to far-right activist Laura Loomer wondering how Republicans would react. “Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years.”
Here are the Republicans who we’re watching closely to determine how to navigate the fallout:
JD Vance
The vice president and possible heir to Trump’s political movement could be the biggest loser of the blowout.
With Musk’s future potential campaign contributions now in jeopardy, Vance, an expected 2028 presidential candidate, would have an incentive to mediate the relationship. Vance wouldn’t want to jeopardize a donor relationship with Musk, but he also needs Trump’s support if he wants to inherit his base. He will be constrained in how much he can realistically break from Trump if the feud continues.
Musk appeared to endorse Vance in ‘in an X post calling from Trump to be impeached and the vice president to take his place, suggesting their relationship remains intact for now. And the two appear to share some political stances, including supporting Germany’s far-right party Alternative for Deutschland (AfD).
In April, after it was first reported that Musk intended to leave the White House, Vance said he expected Trump and Musk to remain close, a seemingly lousy prediction in hindsight.
“DOGE has got a lot of work to do, and yeah, that work is going to continue after Elon leaves,” Vance said in April. “But fundamentally, Elon is going to remain a friend and an adviser of both me and the president.”
Ron DeSantis
The Florida governor has had a tortured relationship with Trump, his former political benefactor-turned-2024 rival who bulldozed him during the presidential campaign.
But since Trump took office, DeSantis has publicly supported the president and signed into law a Florida immigration law that furthered Trump’s immigration agenda.
He’s also a big fan of Musk.
Musk was an early booster of the Florida governor’s failed presidential campaign, offering to host a glitchy, error-ridden launch event via X Spaces, the audio livestream feature on the Musk-owned social media site. Musk also contributed $10 million to DeSantis’ campaign before he dropped out and endorsed Trump.
In Musk’s final week as part of the Trump administration, DeSantis praised his work leading the Department of Government Efficiency and echoed Musk’s criticisms of the reconciliation package for not doing enough to reduce the deficit, calling the bill “a betrayal of the voters.”
He went further on Wednesday, singling out Musk in a fundraising solicitation.
“Elon Musk stood tall and took the hits to lead the fight on DOGE, cutting wasteful spending and exposing bloated government programs,” said a fundraising email Wednesday from one of DeSantis’ political committees. “The media attacked him. The Left panicked. But now? Even Republicans in Congress are backing down.”
It’s unclear what DeSantis’ political future holds — he’s term-limited as governor from 2026 — but Musk’s backing could play a role in whatever he does next.
A spokesperson for the governor’s political operation said the fundraising language was approved May 29 — the day before Trump prepared to extol Musk during a friendly send-off at the White House.
Stephen Miller and Katie Miller
The Trump-Musk rift sets up some potential awkwardness between Stephen Miller, Trump’s powerful deputy chief of staff, and his wife Katie Miller, who joined DOGE as an aide to Musk and left last week to work for the billionaire entrepreneur.
The New York Times reported in January that Stephen Miller had been advising Musk on his political donations. But it’s unclear if that relationship is still strong. And after Musk started attacking the Republican megabill, Stephen Miller became a staunch defender of the legislation.
On Thursday, after Trump and Musk traded barbs, Musk appeared to unfollow Miller on X. If there was ever a path to peace between Trump and Musk, the Millers could play a role — or it could cause a rift in their marriage.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Once tapped to co-lead DOGE with Musk, Ramaswamy split off from the administration before Inauguration Day and ultimately mounted a run for governor of Ohio.
But the former presidential candidate, who raised his profile by passionately defending Trump in the 2024 Republican primaries, has always aligned himself with the cost-cutting, Libertarian brand of conservatism that Musk embraces. However, if Ramaswamy seeks to grow closer to Musk in the vacuum left by Trump when he leaves office, he’ll have to overcome the fact that Musk thinks he’s annoying.
David Sacks
Sacks, a South African entrepreneur, came into Trump’s orbit by way of Musk, and now heads artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency policy for the White House. But if the White House withdrawing Jared Isaacman’s nomination to head NASA is any indication, Sacks may not be long for Washington.
On the other hand, Trump’s embrace of the crypto industry — and Sacks’ role as crypto czar — could prove to be tempting enough for Sacks to side with the president against his longtime friend.
Thom Tillis
As Trump and Musk clash over the reconciliation bill, Senate Republicans are left to pick up the pieces as they continue to argue over changes to satisfy at least 50 members and pass the bill. Tillis in particular is facing a tough reelection battle and could surely use strong support from Trump and Musk.
On Wednesday — day two of Musk tweeting attacks against the bill — Tillis told CNN Musk is a “brilliant guy,” while noting he’s “got resources.”
With Republicans looking to approve the bill this summer, Tillis could be forced to take a side earlier than he might like. How he navigates the rift may offer a roadmap for other battleground Republicans ahead of 2026.
Vance, DeSantis, Stephen Miller, Katie Miller, Ramaswamy, Sack and Tillis did not immediately respond to requests for comment.