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President Donald Trump proposed ending Elon Musk’s government contracts and subsidies, escalating the war of words between the world’s richest man and the president he helped elect.
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” Trump posted on his social media site Thursday.
Trump’s threat strikes at a main source of the billionaire’s wealth. Musk’s Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. have benefited from federal contracts and subsidies. Ending contracts with Musk’s companies could prove legally and practically unwieldy, given they are deeply intertwined with US space and defense operations.
Total revenue for SpaceX and Tesla from federal unclassified contracts since fiscal year 2000 is $22.5 billion, according to Bloomberg Government data. Tesla’s shares fell as much as 18% on Thursday, extending earlier losses after Trump floated ending Musk’s federal relationships.
“Go ahead, make my day,” Musk posted on X in response to Trump’s threat. The Tesla chief then alleged that Trump’s name appears in the files related to the late New York financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking underage girls and later died by suicide while in federal detention.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk wrote. The White House declined to comment on the Epstein accusation.
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