Elon Musk says Donald Trump ‘is in the Epstein files’

The beef between Elon Musk and President Trump reached new heights Thursday as their public spat over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act turned personal.

“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Mr. Musk said on X shortly before the president met with the Fraternal Order of Police at the White House. “That is the real reason they have not been made public.”

He added snarkily, “Have a nice day, DJT!”

Later, in response to a post on X calling for Mr. Trump’s impeachment, Mr. Musk responded, “Yes.”

He also warned that the Trump tariffs would “cause a recession in the second half of this year.” Plus, he shared videos and news reports linking Mr. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, the well-connected financier who police said killed himself in jail after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges.

The White House dismissed the attacks as a case of sour grapes.

“This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said. “The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.”

Mr. Trump did not respond to reporters’ questions about Epstein at the FOP event, where Attorney General Pam Bondi joined him. The president called on Congress to pass the tax cut bill as soon as possible.

Mr. Musk made his scorched-earth claim about Epstein and the president about a half hour after Mr. Trump said the “easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”

“I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” he said on Truth Social.

Mr. Trump also posted after Mr. Musk aired out the theory about Epstein.

“I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,” Mr. Trump said. “This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.”

Mr. Musk, the owner of X and CEO of SpaceX, poured millions of dollars into the Trump campaign last year and supported the president by overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency. He left the administration last week.

At his formal send-off in the Oval Office on Friday, Mr. Trump presented Mr. Musk with a golden key featuring the White House insignia. He described Mr. Musk as one of the “greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced.”

The bromance has since soured. Mr. Musk launched a war against Mr. Trump’s signature economic proposal, which is advancing through the Republican-controlled Congress.

The bill would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts and add $2.5 trillion to deficits over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Mr. Musk emphasized that the measure would add to the nation’s $36 trillion national debt, providing some cover for senators seeking less spending.

Others surmise that Mr. Musk is angry because he wanted to stay in his DOGE advisory role, the legislation eliminates an electric vehicle tax credit that boosted Tesla sales, and Mr. Trump withdrew the nomination of the person Mr. Musk wanted to lead NASA.

The breakup of the leader of the free world and the wealthiest man on the planet has spilled over into the public eye with barbs over Mr. Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on their respective social media platforms. Mr. Musk has 220 million followers, and Mr. Trump has 9.85 million followers.

Ford O’Connell, a Republican Party strategist, described Mr. Musk’s comments about Epstein as a “low blow” and said he took things “too far.”

“I think what has frustrated Elon is here is a guy who put a rocket on the moon, built the best electric vehicle, and doesn’t understand why you can’t move with lightning speed to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse in government,” Mr. O’Connell said. “To him, that is commonsense, but in the swamp, commonsense does not sell, and you have to play with the team you have on the field to get legislation passed.”

He said Mr. Musk knew the proposal’s contours and had ample time to speak up before leaving the White House.

“So Trump is right: This is sour grapes,” he said.

Mr. Musk started ratcheting up the criticism earlier this week. The legislation, he said, is a “disgusting abomination.” He urged Americans to call their members of Congress to “KILL the BILL.”

The president countered on social media: “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, 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!”

Except for liberals hoping Mr. Trump appears in the Epstein files, hardly anyone has accused the president of being involved with the late sex offender.

Mr. Trump, who was in office when Epstein was arrested in 2019, suggested on the campaign trail last year that he would seek to open the government’s files on him.

The files have not been released, though the administration has been under pressure to do so.

The story has animated the MAGA movement and conservatives who have raised alarms about the deep state and related conspiracy theories, including that Epstein didn’t commit suicide but was killed.

FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, have thrown cold water on the claims. They said Epstein killed himself in the Manhattan prison in August 2019.

Ms. Bondi has said FBI officials are sifting through “tens of thousands” of videos related to Epstein and will make more material public once they take steps to protect the victims.

Rep. Dan Goldman, New York Democrat, pounced on Mr. Musk’s Epstein allegations. He sent a letter to the Justice Department questioning whether Mr. Trump has “intervened to prevent the public release of the Epstein Files in order to hide his own embarrassing and potentially criminal conduct.”