MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
It was only a week ago that President Trump and Elon Musk were side by side in the Oval Office saying fond farewells as the billionaire adviser returned to the private sector. Then today, again in the Oval, Trump delivered withering criticism for the donor he once relied on to find trims to government spending. Then Musk fired back on social media, and here we are. NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben is here to talk us through it. Hey there.
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Hey there.
KELLY: OK, so a very public breakup. What is going on?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, the genesis of this breakup is the Big Beautiful Bill, as Republicans are calling their massive policy package that they're trying to pass right now. Now, Musk has been slamming that bill all week long. At one point, he called it a disgusting abomination, pointing to its cost. The nonpartisan CBO, I should add, has reported that the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over 10 years. And importantly, there are some on Capitol Hill who agree with Musk. They are balking at that price tag. Well, today, Trump was asked about Musk's criticism, and Trump said he thinks Musk is angry that the bill would end tax incentives for people buying electric cars. Musk, after all, is the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we're going to have to cut the EV mandate because that's billions and billions of dollars.
KURTZLEBEN: Now, that's not all. Trump also added that he thinks Musk just misses the power and the attention that he had in government.
KELLY: And how did Elon Musk respond to all that?
KURTZLEBEN: Not well. Musk was responding in real time on social media. He was posting shortly after Trump's remarks. Musk said that, no, he didn't oppose the bill because of the EV tax credits. It was the cost. But things just escalated. Trump posted a threat to end the various government contracts Musk's companies have. Trump added that that would save billions of dollars. Well, Musk in turn, posted that Trump hadn't released all the records around sex offender Jeffrey Epstein because, according to Musk, Trump himself is implicated in those files. Now, Musk did not provide any evidence of this, and Musk has, in the past, accused people of sex crimes without evidence. By the way, I asked - the White House has no immediate comment on this. But look, these two guys love to post, and we...
KELLY: Yeah.
KURTZLEBEN: ...Can probably expect this to keep going.
KELLY: Yes, that is a sure bet. OK, so we have this, as we said, very public breakup in the bromance between the president and his billionaire adviser. Beyond, you know, taking up a lot of bandwidth on social media, does it matter, Danielle?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, look, on one level, it's easy to gawk at - right? - two angry, powerful guys sniping at each other. But there's a few important points I would add here. One is that there have been business consequences. Shares of Tesla plummeted this afternoon. Another point is that there are very tight margins to pass that Big Beautiful Bill on Capitol Hill, so if Musk has some pull with even a few Republicans, that could very much hurt that bill's chances of passing.
But there's one more really important point here. Amid all of this today, Musk posted, quote, "without me, Trump would have lost the election." Now, that's a reminder. He's saying that he dumped more than a quarter of a billion dollars into the 2024 election. So he's sending a message that he, Elon Musk, has money, which means he has power.
KELLY: Danielle, just about 45 seconds left here, but can I, while I've got you, ask about one other thing making headlines today, which is tariffs? What do we need to know?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, Trump spoke to Chinese president Xi Jinping on the phone today. He said they talked for around an hour and a half and that they're still trying to hash out that longer-term trade deal to lower tariffs between the two countries. A meeting is coming up between the two countries, but Trump did not say when or where that's going to happen.
KELLY: NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben, thanks so much.
KURTZLEBEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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