Less than a day after Donald Trump and Elon Musk's bitter verbal duel and social media onslaught became a public spectacle, talks of a possible phone call being arranged for the two brash billionaires to calm things down were heard in Washington DC. But the damage was done. Elon Musk's businesses lost more than $150 billion in valuation, while Donald Trump is faced with allegations that can rock his presidency.
TO CALL OR NOT TO CALL?
Donald Trump's aides reportedly scheduled a call between the US President and Elon Musk for Friday morning (Washington time). A White House official privy to the matter even confirmed the development to the American press, however no time was specified.
A short while later, another White House official gave an update - "There are no plans for President Trump to hold a call with Elon Musk on Friday," they said. Meanwhile, American news network ABC News was interviewing the US President over an early morning phone call. During the call President Trump was asked about reports suggesting he had a call scheduled with Musk later in the day, but Trump trashed the idea with a snide remark.
THE COLD SHOULDER
"You mean the man who has lost his mind?" President Trump asked, adding that he was "not particularly" interested in talking to him. He went on to claim that Elon Musk wanted to talk to him, but he is not ready to talk to Musk, indicating a snub to his former adviser and friend.
According to ABC News, the US President sounded "remarkably unconcerned" about Elon Musk's outburst on social media and the very public fallout between the two leaders. In the heat of the moment however, when the two billionaires were exchanging blows on social media, Trump had threatened Elon Musk about scrapping his government contracts - which would directly impact SpaceX.
Musk too had suggested that the US President "should be impeached", dropping a bombshell about his name figuring in the Epstein files.
'IT'S OVER': ROOT CAUSE OF THE BREAK-UP
The ugly public spat between the richest person in the world and arguably the most powerful person in the world left their company stocks in the red and the world aghast. Unlike the last nine months, during which, billionaires Donald Trump and Elon Musk were inseparable and praised each other highly, the last week had been turbulent, and the past 24 hours in particular, explosive.
The root cause was Donald Trump's controversial 'One Big Beautiful Bill', which the two former friends had deep disagreements over. With the passage of the bill, despite last-minute efforts by Elon Musk, tax cuts which were given to electric vehicle manufacturers, have been lifted. Tesla stocks plummeted more than 14 per cent, with its stock valuation falling by more than $150 billion.
Elon Musk reminded the "ungrateful" President that the reason he can call the White House his home, was because of Musk's financial and moral support during the election campaign last year, for which he had poured in hundreds of millions of dollars.
President Trump had said "Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will any more" before all hell broke loose, resulting in the bromance between Trump and Musk to an abrupt end.
