Inside the Trump-Musk split: How America’s most powerful bromance imploded into the biggest breakup of 2025

By Fox News · Fox News

Back on Inauguration Day, few in Washington would have believed that the highly publicized friendship between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk would implode before the year’s end. No political partnership burned brighter or fizzled faster than Trump and Musk’s in 2025. What began as a joint crusade to cut federal spending through the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency quickly devolved into a public falling out that unfolded in a full-blown social media feud. As 2025 comes to a close, here's a look back at the biggest political breakup of the year. MUSK, TRUMP COME TOGETHER AT CHARLIE KIRK MEMORIAL The 2024 presidential campaign was the driving force for the high-profile partnership that ensued. ‘GONE TOO FAR’: GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND TRUMP AFTER MUSK RAISES EPSTEIN ALLEGATIONS After the first Trump assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, Musk endorsed Trump in an X post. Musk went on to donate more than $200 million to Trump's presidential campaign through his super PAC, America PAC. While the two appeared together for a virtual town hall that August, the X owner and Tesla CEO made his first public appearance with Trump on Oct. 5, as the soon-to-be president returned to Butler three months after the shooting and one month before Election Day. Musk was jumping for joy as he joined Trump on stage. After Trump won the 2024 presidential election , Musk was appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency. On stage in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, after winning the election, Trump said of Musk, "A star is born!" Two weeks after the election, Trump and his family attended the SpaceX "Starship" launch with Musk. Trump made DOGE official on Inauguration Day by signing an executive order to cut waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government with a mandate to modernize " Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity." Musk joined fellow tech moguls Jeff Bezos , Tim…