Former adviser taunts president over links to Epstein while Trump threatens to cancel contracts for Musk companies

Elon Musk called for Donald Trump to be impeached after mocking his connections to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the president threatened to cancel federal contracts and tax subsidies for Musk’s companies in an extraordinary social media feud on Thursday.

The deterioration of their once close relationship into bitter acrimony came over the course of several remarkable hours during which the president and the world’s richest man hurled deeply personal insults over matters significant and insignificant.

In the most churlish moment of the astonishing saga, Musk said on X the reason the Trump administration had not released the files into Epstein was because they implicated the president. He later quote-tweeted a post calling for Trump to be removed and said Trump’s tariffs would cause a recession.

  • @Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee
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    472 days ago

    … I was not expecting this many people to (so strongly) take sides in what is basically a kerfuffle between two mega villains.

    (Og) Nazis had a lot of infighting too, still fascist mass murderers.

  • Wow they are arguably the most powerful people in the world and they are having a public squawky slappy fight like stroppy toddlers.

    Meanwhile humanity is circling the drain. We are so fucked.

    • @Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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      162 days ago

      Fortunately, America has an affinity for reality TV, and so they’re distracted from whatever else this is a distraction for. I just have a part of me that can’t believe what’s happening.

        • @Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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          52 days ago

          I try to focus more locally whenever I get bent out of shape over the more broad scope of life. I can reach out and touch problems in my area, and it feels good to get involved in trying to fix things. Will it solve Gaza? Will it solve Trump? Nah, but maybe I help plant some trees, clean up the brook in town, just get involved. Who knows, maybe it trickles up (ha).

          • Yeah, same here. Back when I was younger I was really into direct action. Big demos - there’s no buzz like a riot, fighting up against the police lines - and smaller, quieter actions. These days, I feel like I’m a bit too old for all that - and looking back I’m not sure all those actions changed a single thing. Except maybe made me feel like I was doing something useful. Also, it was fun. And I still think it’s important to counterprotest when nazis take to the street. But yeah, I’m more at the local level too. I kinda feel like getting engaged locally is maybe more useful than the big, flashy stuff. You can get stuff done, even if it’s not big changes. Lots of small changes add up. Plus, you’re meeting like-minded people, growing local community resiliency. If shit goes proper bad, these local community groups will become vital.

    • @Dasus@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      It’s actually very possible, but only if it’s two large and healthy egos.

      Theirs are anything but healthy

  • @mcv@lemm.ee
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    623 days ago

    I think they’re both right. The government should cut all ties with Musk’s businesses, and Trump should be impeached. That way everybody wins.

    • @Wilco@lemm.ee
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      143 days ago

      It hurts to agree with them doesn’t it? Yet, it’s so funny to watch them bite at each other.

      • @mcv@lemm.ee
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        12 days ago

        I don’t see why not, but it’s a lot harder to make a good case against Vance than against Trump (where it’s trivial to find plenty of crimes).

  • @Donebrach@lemmy.world
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    42 days ago

    extraordinary that two man babies who own their own SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS post some shit posts and probably fall asleep half way through.

  • @MyOpinion@lemmy.today
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    983 days ago

    LOL yes let’s impeach him again. We are stuck with this Orange Turd. Republicans have given us this turd and we can’t flush him for 4 years.

  • @jballs@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    I hate to be a Debby Downer, but the headline is a bit sensationalist. This is how Elon “called for Donald Trump to be impeached”:

    That’s it. He wrote “Yes”.

    • Zagorath
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      523 days ago

      I don’t think that’s sensationalist at all. It’s a pretty direct and clear call for impeachment.

      But I’d rather talk about that original Tweet. Obviously, Trump being impeached (and convicted by the Senate) would result in Vance replacing him; that’s how it works. But the choice to specifically highlight the Vance part of it implies not just a desire for Trump to be gone, but for Vance specifically to be in. Which is wild. I can’t imagine any human on earth actually being pro-Vance. There’s the sane people, who oppose the entire administration, and there’s the Magats who are rabidly pro-Trump. Who exactly supports Trump’s diet lacky?

        • @Ton@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          Vance was placed there with the objective to replace Trump eventually. These guys don’t need Trump any more, but like the industrials underestimated Hitler when they put him into power, Thiel and co are probably underestimating Trump’s shrewdness. He will burn everything down before he’ll be put out of power.

      • Firipu
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        63 days ago

        Anyone with any stock in big eyeliner obviously. There are tens of us!

  • rodneyck
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    72 days ago

    An abusive relationship between two narcissists, one with a ADHD, the other with a huge coke problem. Stay tuned next week, same bat channel, same bat time.

  • @conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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    393 days ago

    Elon’s going to lose this fight. All the other rich people backing Trump still think the snake won’t bite them, and Elon doesn’t have the same cult of personality Trump does. He had some good will for a while, but he’s been burning that ever since the weird pedo guy thing, and that’s nowhere near Trump’s fucking cult energy. Forty years from now there’s still going to be dumbasses and edgy teens talking about how they heard a rumor that Trump is still alive out there in the wastes that used to be middle America.

    • @Don_alForno@feddit.org
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      183 days ago

      Elon doesn’t have the same cult of personality Trump does

      He used to, but then he started associating with Trump.

      • He really used to - remember all the iron man shit? The image of the benevolent billionaire who was going to open up space? I’m ashamed to admit I was tempted to believe too.

        He lost the positive public image before he started associating with trump tho. I think what happened was he fired his PR team because he thought he could do better himself. Right around the time he got pissy and was calling that cave diver a pedo, the guy who saved a bunch of kids in Thailand. It was all downhill from there and I don’t remember ever seeing anyone piss away so much public goodwill so quickly.

        • @Alaik@lemmy.zip
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          32 days ago

          Im gonna be honest, I never bought into the whole Phony Stark persona but I did but him at the same level as Bill Gates, (no such thing as a good billionare, but he’s doing SOME good things with his ill gotten gains).

          The dudes brain is fucking fried for sure now. If he hadn’t hurt so many people, id almost feel bad for him.

      • @mcv@lemm.ee
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        163 days ago

        It seems he wasn’t aware that his cult following came from the other end of the political spectrum.

        Well, not quite the other end, but environmentally inclined business friendly liberals are still not quite Trump’s crowd.

  • @radiofreebc@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    JD Vance is VERY silent right now, so I’m thinking this could all just be fake, and that the tech bros (led by Peter Thiel) are using all this drama to get JD Vance into the Oval Office. I don’t think this is a legit fight…I think this is all part of their long term plan.

    • @Trihilis@ani.social
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      32 days ago

      How fucking stupid do you have to be to think JD Vance is the next best thing?

      Oh wait… yep you’re fucked america

      • @XeroxCool@lemmy.world
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        22 days ago

        Well yeah, JD is great. He did things like… Gang up on Zelensky, so he’s got the general Maga crowd s vote and he killed the pope, so now he’s got the entire non-catholic Christian vote. Pretty solid.