Source: Politics<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened Elon Musk\u2019s federal contracts, a remarkable escalation in a public feud between the president and the world\u2019s richest man, his former ally.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon\u2019s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,\u201d Trump wrote on his social media platform<\/a> Thursday afternoon. \u201cI was always surprised that Biden didn\u2019t do it!\u201d<\/p>\n The president\u2019s relationship with Musk has deteriorated rapidly since Musk left the White House last week. The acrimony went public when Musk publicly slammed<\/a> Trump\u2019s sweeping domestic policy package on Tuesday.<\/p>\n He\u2019s continued to lash out at the White House in the days since \u2014 with Musk baiting Trump by name earlier Thursday, and Trump responding by chastising the Tesla CEO from the Oval Office<\/a> later in the day.<\/p>\n Still, Trump\u2019s criticism from the White House \u2014 where the two men less than a week ago shared a laudatory sendoff for Musk<\/a> \u2014 was not as pointed as the president\u2019s barbs on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.,\u201d Musk wrote on X Thursday<\/a>, the social media site he owns. \u201cSuch ingratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s companies have significant ties to the federal government, even before the Trump administration. SpaceX is one of NASA\u2019s largest contractors<\/a>. And his car company Tesla benefitted from a clean energy subsidy<\/a> that is on the chopping block in Republicans\u2019 reconciliation package.<\/p>\n \u201cElon was \u2018wearing thin,\u2019 I asked him to leave, 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!\u201d Trump posted.<\/p>\n \u201cSuch an obvious lie. So sad,\u201d Musk fired back.<\/p>\n Trump has previously boosted Tesla because of his close relationship with Musk. In March, with the company\u2019s stock at a low<\/a> after public anger over job cuts fueled by Musk\u2019s DOGE initiative, the president toured different Tesla models at a makeshift car show on the White House lawn. Trump later purchased his own Tesla<\/a>, \u201ca show of confidence and support\u201d for Musk.<\/p>\n Trump has routinely wielded the power of the executive branch against institutions that he deems are misbehaving. He\u2019s frozen billions in federal grants<\/a> to some of the country\u2019s top universities, Harvard chief among them, as punishment for alleged antisemitism and civil rights violations. And he\u2019s secured multimillion dollar deals<\/a> with law firms weary of his threats to tank their business.<\/p>\n