--- title: "Trump Confronted Musk in Private Before Their Blowout Public Fight" description: "Donald Trump and Elon Musk's bad blood has burst into public view — but apparently, it was brewing behind the scenes for some time." date: "2025-06-07" modified: "2025-06-07" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/trump-confronted-musk-privately" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "jared isaacman" - "NASA" --- # Trump Confronted Musk in Private Before Their Blowout Public Fight ![Donald Trump and Elon Musk's bad blood has burst into public view — but apparently, it was brewing behind the scenes for some time.]() *US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk (R) speak before departing the White House on his way to his South Florida home in Mar-a-Lago in Florida on March 14, 2025. Trump is spending the weekend at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP) (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images) \Image: Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images\* This week, president Donald Trump and Elon Musk's bad blood burst into public view — but apparently, it had been brewing behind the scenes for some time. In a massive exposé looking behind the curtain of the year's biggest breakup, the [*New York Times* revealed]() that the pair was already squabbling immediately after Musk's now-infamous farewell party — yes, the one that Musk showed up to with a [mysterious black eye]() and a bizarre excuse. According to White House insiders who requested that the *NYT* keep them anonymous, Trump learned just ahead of Musk's now-infamous final Oval Office meeting last week that aviator Jared Isaacman, the billionaire's pick to lead NASA, had in recent years been a big-time donor to Democrats. Though many donations are public and easily accessible on [databases like OpenSecrets](), the information in that file was apparently news to the president. After playing nice during Musk's televised farewell, Trump apparently made his displeasure with the situation known. During the confrontation, Trump read the names out loud — which names, we don't know, because the *NYT* didn't reveal them — while reportingly shaking his head. This wasn't good, he told Musk. Attempting to defend his pick, Musk insisted that Isaacman's donations could be spun positively as proof that Trump, himself a [former registered Democrat](), was willing to hire people from different political backgrounds. The president, however, wasn't buying it, and suggested it showed only that the [well-heeled SpaceX customer]() was a turncoat. Isaacman's [nomination was ultimately rescinded]() after that tense exchange at the end of May. And according to the *NYT*'s unnamed insiders, that debacle was the tipping point that took his increasing frustrations with the president to nuclear levels. Within just a few days, Musk began posting about the "[abomination]()" that he consider's Trump's 2025 budget and tax proposal to be — and added in an apparent [pedophilia allegation]() for good measure. The president, to his end, responded publicly to Musk's barbs the only way he knows how: with cruelty and aplomb. Along with [threatening to cancel]() SpaceX's NASA contracts, Trump allegedly, [per more reporting from the *New York Times*](), decided to sell the cherry-red Tesla he purchased in March "[as a show of support and confidence]()" for Musk. **More on the Musk-Trump drama:** [*Elon and Trump’s Breakup Results In Hilarious Consequences For Dogecoin*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()