Trump and Musk’s Social Media Showdown: The Dramatic Unraveling of a Political Alliance on X

The Fall of a Digital Dynasty

Since June 2025, the relationship between South African-born businessman Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump has deteriorated into a series of social media attacks, primarily across X (formerly Twitter) and Truth Social, following Musk’s departure from the second Trump administration.

From Friendship to Feud

What The Independent described as a “rapid and intense bromance between two of the world’s most powerful men” reached its peak in February 2025, when Musk publicly declared his love for Trump “as a straight man”.

The conflict has escalated dramatically, with Musk using his X account as a political weapon against Trump. While the president attempts to respond on his smaller platform, Truth Social, he faces a challenging opponent in Musk, who sometimes posts more than 100 times per day. Despite Trump’s presidential power and media access, Musk maintains significant advantages, including a much larger social media footprint.

Platform Power Dynamics

The reach disparity between the platforms is striking – while Trump’s Truth Social reportedly has 6.3 million active users, Musk’s X boasts an estimated 600 million.

Recent Developments

In recent days, Musk has deleted some of his most explosive posts on X that had escalated the feud, including controversial allegations. The White House, through press secretary Karoline Leavitt, has dismissed these as “an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted”.

Business Implications

The conflict has potential business ramifications, as President Trump has suggested he could cancel billions of dollars of government contracts with Musk’s companies. The public nature of their feud puts billions in government contracts at risk for Musk.