Elon Musk’s revenge war against Donald Trump has seen the Tesla billionaire savage his former boss with toxic insults on his platform X.
But the situation could pave the way for the president to have the last laugh, as the aftermath puts at risk costing the SpaceX tycoon further billions in addition to the $27 billion he saw disappear from his net worth on Thursday.
Trump has threatened to cut off huge federal loans and subsidies to Musk’s companies after they fell out over the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’.
In the last 20 or so years, the tech guru’s firms have received some $38billion in government contracts, according to The Washington Post.
‘The most straightforward method to save vast amounts of money in our budget is by terminating Elon’s governmental subsidies and contracts,’ Trump declared on Thursday. ‘I’ve always been amazed that Biden didn’t take this action!’
This ultimatum followed a clash where the world’s wealthiest individual, valued at over $330 billion, criticized Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ as a ‘disgusting abomination,’ particularly due to its forecasted addition of trillions of dollars to the deficit.
Tesla and SpaceX – Musk’s biggest companies – have received by far the most help from the government over the years.
SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell estimates that SpaceX has gotten $22billion in federal spending.
Elon Musk’s feud with President Donald Trump could lose his companies, mainly Tesla and SpaceX, billions of dollars worth of canceled federal contracts
After Musk torched the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ Trump threatened to cut off all federal spending on Musk’s companies
At least a quarter of SpaceX’s revenue in 2024 came directly from federal contracts worth $3.8 billion (Pictured: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where SpaceX previously started work on a Starship launch pad)
And last year alone, at least a quarter of the rocket designer’s revenue came directly from federal contracts valued at $3.8billion.
Tesla has already had $11.4billion in regulatory credits from environmentally-focused federal and state programs looking to boost the number of zero-emission vehicles.
At least $2.1billion of that total has been to help Tesla develop new cars and improve upon its battery technology, according to advocacy group Good Jobs First.
Trump hasn’t yet said he wants to get rid of these regulatory credits, which is good for Musk because his companies get these credits for free and can sell them for virtually 100 percent profit.
Though these credits make up a relatively small percentage of Tesla’s revenue, they represent a staggering 32 percent of the company’s profits since 2014, according to E&E News.
What could be worrying to Musk is that there are 52 ongoing contracts with seven different government agencies that are set to pay his companies an additional $11.8 billion over the next few years, according an analysis from The Post.
If Musk as DOGE chief was able to cancel government contracts he felt were wasteful, there’s no reason to believe Trump as president wouldn’t be able to do the same to Tesla, SpaceX and others.
Starlink, a satellite internet service, is one of Musk’s smaller companies and is far less reliant on government assistance.
Though Starlink may be able to weather a potential boycott from Trump, investors are worried about Tesla’s fortunes given its large reliance on the federal government (Pictured: Trump and Musk at event the day before the inauguration)
Shares of Tesla plummeted nearly 12 percent on Thursday, when the worst of the jabs between Trump and Musk were happening (Pictured: In March, Trump walks the White House South Lawn with Musk to promote Teslas)
While Tesla and SpaceX have received billions, Starlink has only gotten about $6 million from various federal agencies in 2022 and 2023.
That includes a pledge from the Department of Defense back in 2022 to buy $1.9million worth of Starlink technology.
Though Starlink may be able to weather a potential boycott from Trump, investors are worried about Tesla’s fortunes given its large reliance on the federal government.
Shares of Tesla plummeted nearly 12 percent on Thursday, when the worst of the jabs between Trump and Musk were happening.
It’s stark reversal from just several months ago, when Trump was helping Musk sell Tesla cars on the South Lawn of the White House.
Before markets closed on Thursday, Musk dramatically claimed that Trump is in the Epstein files, which he said explained why they haven’t been released in full by the Justice Department.
Trump didn’t directly respond to the Epstein accusation, instead posting what amounted to a shrug on Truth Social.
He also shifted the focus back to the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which he continues to vehemently support despite Musk’s qualms.
‘I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,’ Trump wrote. ‘This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.’
Musk’s attacks on the bill further complicates its passage in the Senate, where the 53 GOP senators already weren’t in lockstep on certain provisions.
