Inside the Trump-Musk split: How America’s most powerful bromance imploded into the biggest breakup of 2025
Back on Inauguration Day, few in Washington would have believed that the highly publicized friendship between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk would implode before the year’s end. No political partnership burned brighter or fizzled faster than Trump and Musk’s in 2025. What began as a joint crusade to cut federal spending through the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency quickly devolved into a public falling out that unfolded in a full-blown social media feud. As 2025 comes to a close, here’s a look back at the biggest political breakup of the year. MUSK, TRUMP COME TOGETHER AT CHARLIE KIRK MEMORIAL The 2024 presidential campaign was the driving force for the high-profile partnership that ensued. ‘GONE TOO FAR’: GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND TRUMP AFTER MUSK RAISES EPSTEIN ALLEGATIONS After the first Trump assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, Musk endorsed Trump in an X post. Musk went on to donate more than $200 million to Trump’s presidential campaign through his super PAC, America PAC. While the two appeared together for a virtual town hall that August, the X owner and Tesla CEO made his first public appearance with Trump on Oct. 5, as the soon-to-be president returned to Butler three months after the shooting and one month before Election Day. Musk was jumping for joy as he joined Trump on stage. After Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Musk was appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency. On stage in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, after winning the election, Trump said of Musk, “A star is born!” Two weeks after the election, Trump and his family attended the SpaceX “Starship” launch with Musk. Trump made DOGE official on Inauguration Day by signing an executive order to cut waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government with a mandate to modernize “Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” Musk joined fellow tech moguls Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg for Trump’s inauguration. As the Trump administration got settled, DOGE got to work pursuing Musk’s ambitious goal of cutting up to $2 trillion from the federal budget. As of October 2025, DOGE has saved approximately $214 billion through a combination of asset sales, contract or lease cancellations, fraud and improper payment deletions, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings and workforce reductions, according to the DOGE website. When tens of thousands of federal workers were laid off, protests began erupting across the United States, rejecting Musk’s leadership and Trump’s sweeping, second-term agenda. Amid growing discontent directed at Musk and DOGE, Tesla stocks began seeing a drop earlier this year. Meanwhile, Musk’s political involvement prompted push back from protesters. Tesla vehicles, charging stations and dealerships were targeted in a string of vandalism attacks. In a show of support for Musk, Trump turned the White House South Lawn into a Tesla showroom and bought a red Tesla Model S. “He’s built this great company, and he shouldn’t be penalized, because he’s a patriot,” Trump said. By May, Musk began paring back his hours leading the controversial agency. According to the Office of Government Ethics, “special government employees” like Musk can work for the federal government no more than 130 days a year, which in Musk’s case was May 30. On his last day at DOGE, Musk joined Trump in the Oval Office for a press conference celebrating the billionaire’s legacy. Soon after Musk left the White House, Trump and Musk had their “big, beautiful” breakup, fueled by congressional negotiations for Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk said in a post on June 3. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.” Trump’s megabill included tax cuts, green energy spending cuts and Medicaid reform, but fiscal conservatives, like Musk, argued it didn’t do enough to reduce the nation’s $38 trillion debt crisis. Trump told reporters he was “very disappointed” in Musk’s criticism of his marquee megabill. “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said. Musk then fired back on X, arguing that, “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.” The Tesla CEO urged Trump to “keep the EV/solar incentives cuts in the bill.” After Musk fired off several posts on X, Trump started firing back on his own social media platform, writing on Truth Social that Musk was “wearing thin” and claiming that he asked Musk to leave the White House. “I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!” Trump said. The president then threatened to “terminate Elon’s Government Subsidies and Contracts.” Musk fired back with a “really big bomb,” accusing Trump of being “in the Epstein files.” “This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted. The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response. Congress narrowly passed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act by a self-imposed July 4 deadline. Ahead of its final passage, Musk renewed his criticism of the reconciliation bill on social media. In response, Trump threatened to use DOGE to investigate Musk’s government subsidies for his companies. Months later, Trump and Musk reunited to honor the conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated during a Turing Point USA event in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10. Trump and Musk were spotted shaking hands at Kirk’s memorial service in a box at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. “For Charlie,” Musk later responded to the photo on X. Aboard Air Force
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, Robert Vadra’s son Raihan Vadra gets engaged to girlfriend Aviva Baig
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi and businessman Robert Vadra’s son Raihan Vadra gets engaged to his longtime girlfriend Aviva Beg.
Raihan Vadra-Aviva Baig Engagement: Meet Rahul Gandhi’s nephew, Priyanka Gandhi’s son, know about his educational qualification, profession
Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra’s son, Raihan Vadra has got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Aviva Baig. While Raihan Vadra is from a political family, he is not inclined to politics much. Know about his education qualification and profession.
Who is Aviva Baig? Priyanka Gandhi, Robert Vadra’s son Raihan Vadra’s long-time girlfriend, know her educational qualification, profession; Here’s how they met
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra is soon going to engage with his long-time girlfriend, Aviva Beg. Read here to know more about her.
Raihan Vadra-Aviva Baig’s engagement: Who is more educated? Here’s all you need to know about Priyanka Gandhi’s son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law
Raihan recently proposed to Aviva Baig after dating her for nearly seven years, as per sources. Both families have reportedly given their consent, and the engagement has their full support. Read here to know more about them.
Uttarakhand accident: At least 36 killed, several injured after bus into gorge in Almora district, here’s what we know so far
A tragic road accident in Uttarakhand’s Almora district has left several people dead after a private bus veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge.
IAS Srushti Deshmukh’s husband IAS Nagarjun B Gowda BREAKS silence on ‘corruption’ allegations of using AI-generated photos to win national presidential award, Rs 20000000, says, ‘No connection…’
Big allegations has been imposed on two district officials of Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa, Zila Panchayat CEO Nagarjun B. Gowda and Collector Rishabh Gupta, for using fabricated evidence and AI generated photographs to bag a national presidential award when nothing exists on ground.
Who are Aviva Baig’s parents Imran Baig, Nandita Baig? Know about Rahul Gandhi’s nephew Raihan Vadra’s in-laws
Aviva Baig’s family is based in Delhi, and her family and the Vadra family are reportedly close. Read here to know more about Raihan Vadra’s in-laws.
Eric Adams says Biden DOJ used ‘lawfare’ against him, compares treatment to Trump
Outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams argued that the Biden administration’s Justice Department engaged in “lawfare” against the former president’s political opponents, including himself on corruption allegations and President Donald Trump over issues such as mishandling classified documents. “I think what we have witnessed under President Biden’s Justice Department, Americans should never have to live through that again,” Adams said on Monday during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Story.” “You saw everyday Americans who fought for the education of their children being put on watch lists, I think that you saw what happened with Charlie Kirk, when you saw the raiding of President Trump’s home. Debates should have happened … I think that you’re seeing the clear indication that the Justice Department under the previous administration used lawfare to go after those who disagree with them,” he added. ERIC ADAMS WARNS NYC ‘NOT FINE’ AFTER MAMDANI’S WIN, SAYS IF HE WAS JEWISH HE’D BE WORRIED FOR HIS CHILDREN Asked if he felt as angry about the alleged weaponization of the DOJ before he was targeted, Adams said “personal experience allows us to see firsthand the abuse.” “I spent my entire life, not only as a police officer, but as a state senator and borough president fighting against injustices,” Adams said. “There’s a real history, a rich history, of me standing up and fighting what the criminal justice system should never be. Yes, that anger was there long before I was a target, but what I saw happen while I was the mayor is really deplorable, and we saw what happened to President Trump‘s family as well.” NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS’ INDICTMENT DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE “If you were to go back and look at my life story on criminal justice reform and not abuse, it goes back to being a young man who was abused at the hands of law enforcement,” he continued. “And so I’ve always been a clear voice, and it really personalized it of what I was fighting for years because I experienced the lawfare myself.” Adams was indicted in September 2024 on federal corruption charges related to bribery, wire fraud and accepting illegal foreign campaign contributions from Turkish officials and businessmen. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. The mayor has insisted that the case was politically motivated over his criticism of how the Biden administration handled illegal immigration, but prosecutors in the Southern District of New York said in court filings that the investigation began in September 2021, before Adams’ public criticism of the government’s immigration policies or his mayoral election win. The charges were dropped earlier this year at the request of the Trump administration. Adams is set to leave office at the turn of the new year, when Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in.
UN Security Council members condemn Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
Most United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members have slammed Israel’s recognition of Somaliland at a meeting convened in response to the move, which several countries said may also have serious implications for Palestinians in Gaza. The United States was the only member of the 15-member body not to condemn Israel’s formal recognition of the breakaway region of Somalia at the emergency meeting in New York City on Monday, although it said its own position on Somaliland had not changed. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Addressing the UNSC, Somalia’s UN ambassador, Abu Bakr Dahir Osman, implored members to firmly reject Israel’s “act of aggression”, which he said not only threatened to fragment Somalia but also to destabilise the wider Horn of Africa and the Red Sea regions. In particular, Osman said that Somalia was concerned the move could be aimed at advancing Israel’s plans to forcibly “relocate the Palestinian population from Gaza to the northwestern region of Somalia”. “This utter disdain for law and morality must be stopped now,” he said. The emergency meeting was called after Israel last week became the first and only country to recognise the self-declared Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state. Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from UN headquarters in New York, said that “14 of the 15 council members condemned Israel’s recognition of Somaliland”, while the US “defended Israel’s action but stopped short of following Israel’s lead”. Tammy Bruce, the US deputy representative to the UN, told the council that “Israel has the same right to establish diplomatic relations as any other sovereign state”. Advertisement However, Bruce added, the US had “no announcement to make regarding US recognition of Somaliland, and there has been no change in American policy”. Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Jonathan Miller, told the council that Israel’s decision was “not a hostile step toward Somalia, nor does it preclude future dialogue between the parties”. “Recognition is not an act of defiance. It is an opportunity,” Miller claimed. Many other countries expressed concerns about Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, including the implications for Palestinians, in statements presented to the UNSC. Speaking on behalf of the 22-member Arab League, its UN envoy, Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz, said the group rejected “any measures arising from this illegitimate recognition aimed at facilitating forced displacement of the Palestinian people, or exploiting northern Somali ports to establish military bases”. Pakistan’s deputy UN ambassador, Muhammad Usman Iqbal Jadoon, said at the meeting that Israel’s “unlawful recognition of [the] Somaliland region of Somalia is deeply troubling”, considering it was made “against the backdrop of Israel’s previous references to Somaliland of the Federal Republic of Somalia as a destination for the deportation of Palestinian people, especially from Gaza”. China and the United Kingdom were among the permanent UNSC members to reject the move, with China’s UN envoy, Sun Lei, saying his country “opposes any act to split” Somalia’s territory. “No country should aid and abet separatist forces in other countries to further their own geopolitical interests,” Sun Lei said. Some non-members of the UNSC also requested to speak, including South Africa, whose UN envoy, Mathu Joyini, said that her country “reaffirmed” Somalia’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” in line with international law, the UN Charter and the constitutive act of the African Union. Comparison with Palestinian recognition In addition to defending Israel’s decision, US envoy Bruce compared the move to recognise Somaliland with Palestine, which has been recognised by more than 150 of the UN’s member states. “Several countries, including members of this council, have unilaterally recognised a non-existent Palestinian state, yet no emergency meeting has been convened,” Bruce said, criticising what she described as the UNSC’s “double standards”. However, Slovenia’s UN ambassador, Samuel Zbogar, rejected the comparison, saying, “Palestine is not part of any state. It is illegally occupied territory… Palestine is also an observer state in this organisation [the UN].” Advertisement “Somaliland, on the other hand, is a part of a UN member state, and recognising it goes against… the UN Charter,” Zbogar added. The self-declared Republic of Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991, after a civil war under military leader Siad Barre. Adblock test (Why?)