White House defends Elon Musk's 'right to speak for his companies' amid escalating feud with Trump

WASHINGTON, DC: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt found herself in hot water on Thursday, June 5, trying to mop up the fallout between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

The POTUS and his "first buddy" had what can be described as a very public breakup. 

Appearing on 'Hannity', Leavitt didn’t shy away from the feud but instead framed it as business as usual. “Tonight, the president’s focus and the focus of the entire White House remains on passing the one big, beautiful bill,” she said, referencing Trump’s sweeping budget-slashing proposal.

Just days before the spat, Musk had actually been in the Oval Office praising Trump.

“On Friday, just days ago, the president graciously hosted Elon Musk in the Oval Office, and Elon thanked the president for his incredible leadership to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in our government, which this one big, beautiful bill does,” Leavitt pointed out. 

She added, “So the only difference between Friday and today is Elon went back to his companies. And, as a businessman, he has a right to speak for his companies. But as president, President Trump is responsible for fighting for this country.”

Elon Musk slams Donald Trump's bill, POTUS hits back

Things took a sharp turn when Elon Musk called Donald Trump's bill “an abomination” and “pork-filled,” claiming it would blow up the federal deficit. The POTUS, however, wasn’t having any of it.

He told reporters on Thursday that he was “very surprised” and “disappointed” by Musk’s sudden heel turn. Soon, they were trading jabs on social media, The Hill reported. 

Trump accused Musk of throwing a tantrum because the megabill scrapped a tax credit for electric vehicles—a direct hit to Tesla. “I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!” Trump ranted.

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump fumed on Truth Social. “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”

If Trump thought Musk would back down, he clearly underestimated his former ally. Musk fired back on X, “Go ahead, make my day.”

He added, “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately."

Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock, which was already having a bad day, nosedived even further amid the fallout.

Things between Donald Trump and Elon Musk went nuclear in less than a week

The whole situation is especially jarring considering how cozy Donald Trump and Elon Musk were just last week.

It wasn’t long ago that the president threw Musk a farewell party in the Oval Office to celebrate his departure from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Trump gushed over Musk’s work in slashing government spending and even gave him a key to the White House. It was all smiles, nods, and mutual admiration in front of the camera.

Now, a week later, it’s like that Kumbaya moment never happened.

Musk, who juggles several companies from Tesla and SpaceX to Neuralink, The Boring Company, xAI, and the social platform X, seems ready for a fight.

Trump seems equally eager to take the gloves off.