Elon Musk drops Epstein files ‘bomb’ after Trump’s ‘derangement syndrome’ taunt
Elon Musk took his war of words with President Donald Trump to an unprecedented new level by saying that his former boss is in the Epstein files he has not released.
Musk unleashed the blockbuster claim after Trump suggested that the tech billionaire, fresh off stepping back as Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief, suffers from ‘Trump derangement syndrome’.
‘Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,’ wrote Musk.
‘That is the real reason they have not been made public.
‘Have a nice day, DJT!’
Trump roasted Musk during an Oval Office meeting hours earlier for criticising his signature domestic policy bill, and said that their ‘great relationship’ may come to an end. The president lodged several other attacks on Musk, prompting him to respond on his X (formerly Twitter) platform in real time.
While on the campaign trail in September, Trump said he would have ‘no problem’ releasing files related to the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. But more than four months into his second term, Trump has yet to follow through on that.
Trump was photographed and videotaped at parties in the 1990s with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for federal sexual trafficking charges.
His ties to Epstein have been known for years, and a court in January unsealed documents that included Trump’s name but included few details beyond what is already known.
‘Mark this post for the future,’ Musk wrote in an X post following up his ‘big bomb’ one.
‘The truth will come out.’
Trump claimed that Musk knew his ‘One, Big, Beautiful Bill’ better than almost anyone else in the administration. Trump said that the Tesla CEO turned on the legislation because it would eliminate subsidies that benefit his electric vehicle business.
‘He knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it,’ said Trump from the Oval Office on Thursday.
‘All of a sudden he had a problem and he only developed the problem when he found out we’re going to cut EV mandate.’
Trump also likened Musk to past officials who have left his administration, and who he claims then missed being inside the White House.
‘I think Elon misses this place. People leave my administration. And then at some point, they miss it so badly. And some of them actually become hostile,’ Trump said while meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
‘It’s sort of Trump Derangement Syndrome.’
Trump said he was surprised that Musk has been speaking out against his bill.
He admitted: ‘I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.’
Musk in an X post just days after Trump gave him a rosy farewell in the White House said the bill will add $2.5trillion to the country’s deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estinated that the bill will add about $3.8trillion to the federal government’s $36.2trillion debt over a decade.
Trump also downplayed Musk’s role in helping him win the 2024 election, and said he would have won the swing state of Pennsylvania without his contributions.
He claimed another reason Musk was coming out against the bill was that he nixed the SpaceX CEO’s pick, fellow billionaire tech executive Jared Isaacman, to run NASA.
‘To run NASA… I didn’t think it was appropriate,’ Trump said of Isaacman.
‘You happen to be a Democrat, like totally Democrat. And I say, you know, look, we won. We get certain privileges. And one of the privileges we don’t have to appoint a Democrat. NASA is very important.’
The president avoided personal attacks on Musk and said, ‘Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.’
‘You know, I’ve always liked Elon,’ Trump said.
‘I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill, because the bill is incredible.’
Musk quickly continued the war of words with Trump, responding in real-time with posts on X.
‘False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!’ he wrote.
Musk also hit back at Trump’s claims around why he is opposing the bill.
‘Whatever,’ wrote the tech billionaire.
‘Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill. In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful.’
Musk, who gave $250million to Trump’s 2024 campaign which was more than any other contributor, also contested the president’s statement on the election matter.
‘Without me, Trump would have lost the election,’ Musk wrote.
‘Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.
‘Such ingratitude,’ he concluded.
Musk on Tuesday had ripped the bill on X, setting up Trump’s scathing words when asked by a reporter during the meeting with Merz.
‘I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,’ he wrote.
‘This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.’
The president’s suggestion that Musk has Trump derangement syndrome – which are negative reactions to him that apparently do not have to do with his policy positions – is rather ironic.
Musk in February compared the left’s Trump Derangement Syndrome to rabies.
‘There’s this whole sort of, you know… they call it like Trump Derangement Syndrome. You don’t realize how real this is until, like — it’s like you can’t reason with people,’ Musk said at the time.
‘It was like they got shot with a dart in the jugular that contained, like, methamphetamine and rabies.’