Elon Musk posted in February that he liked his president, patron and private buddy, “as much as a straight man can love another man.”
They usually had a lot in widespread: colossal egos; mercurial political opinions; compulsive social media habits.
But, it was clear to nearly all however probably the most hopeless MAGA romantics that this rocket-fuelled megastar bromance was doomed to fail.
However who would have predicted an finish this spectacular – their relationship present process a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” to rival probably the most explosive of Mr Musk‘s take a look at rockets.
Their hysterical tit-for-tat on social media could be the stuff of Hollywood tabloids, however its penalties might be grave.
The break-up has already had a serious affect on Mr Musk’s wealth, with Tesla shares sliding 15% on the information.
However Mr Musk’s social media platform and $250m of political donations performed no small half in getting Mr Trump and his supporters into the White Home.
If that cash and affect have been to show towards them, it may see them out.
Donald Trump greets Elon Musk earlier than a Starship rocket launch final November. File pic: AP
And by way of strategic significance, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is not any bizarre firm.
In 2024, it averaged a rocket launch each three days, accounting for almost 90% of the US orbital launch market and took extra cargo into house final 12 months than the remainder of the world mixed.
Learn extra:
Musk says Trump seems in Epstein recordsdata as row explodes
The extraordinary spat minute-by-minute
The large, lovely bust-up everybody knew was coming
Elon Musk already seems to have backed down on his menace to decommission the SpaceX Crew Dragon that ferries astronauts to the Worldwide Area Station.
Doing so would have risked the lives of the crew on board, leaving the US and its worldwide companions reliant on Russian {hardware} to take them out and in of orbit.
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Why doesn’t Musk like Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’?
Neither is it possible Mr Trump would, and even may, take down an organization as essential to US pursuits as SpaceX.
Though the souring of relations might be excellent news for his up-and-coming rivals like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin launch firm.
SpaceX is closely reliant on authorities contracts from NASA and the US navy. But it surely might be years earlier than a competitor can rival its near-monopoly on house launches.
The 2 males may, after all, patch issues up. It wouldn’t be the primary time both has stated outrageous issues on social media that they later shrugged off.
However in a technique, the injury has already been carried out.
The world has witnessed two of its strongest folks row like youngsters with no proof of the knowledge, restraint or cool-headedness most would count on of dependable businessmen and heads of state.
Given the state of the world proper now, what the lurid particulars of their row says in regards to the two males is extra terrifying than titillating.
