Dispute Between Trump and Musk Continues

When asked about reports of a supposedly planned phone call with Elon Musk for Friday, US President Donald Trump responded in a phone interview with the US television network ABC: "You mean the man who lost his mind?"

Bill on Budget Caused Dispute Between Trump and Musk

He is "not particularly" interested in speaking with the Tesla CEO now. While Musk wants to talk to him, Trump claimed, he is not ready to do so. Musk and Trump are now engaged in an open mudslinging match after months of unusually close cooperation. The trigger for the feud is a bill currently in the Senate. It proposes comprehensive tax and spending reforms intended to implement large parts of Trump's political agenda. However, they would also increase national debt by trillions of dollars. The House of Representatives passed the bill last month with a razor-thin majority.

On Thursday, the President abandoned any restraint towards Musk's days-long criticism and wrote that Musk had "gone crazy." The richest man in the world then spread numerous posts on his platform X with fierce attacks on Trump, to which the US President responded equally snippily. On Thursday, Trump threatened to cancel government contracts for Musk's companies, while Musk suggested an impeachment process against Trump.

Musk on Trump: "Without Me, Trump Would Have Lost the Election"

Musk then took another shot: He claimed that Trump's name appears in documents related to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. "That's the real reason why they weren't released," he wrote after the sentence: "It's time to drop the really big bomb." Epstein committed suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Trump's Justice Department released some Epstein documents in February.

Musk had donated more than 250 million dollars to Trump's campaign. He also personally campaigned for him, including in the key state of Pennsylvania. Trump now said he would have easily won in Pennsylvania without Musk - and seems to have provoked escalating attacks from the tech billionaire. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," Musk claimed on X. And added: "Such ingratitude."

Spurred by Tesla's crash on the US stock exchange, Musk also supported an impeachment process against Trump in response to a post on X. However, the hurdles for such a process are high. For a removal, among other things, a two-thirds majority in the Senate is required in the final step.

(APA/Red)

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