Red Flags In Donald Trump & Elon Musk's Friendship We Can't Ignore

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have teamed up to terrorize liberal policies, pushing one controversial change through after another. But this unholy alliance, like all transactional relationships, is not exactly harmonious. The plan was simple: Musk spent millions on Trump's campaign to get him back into power, and in return, the president handed him access to the country's purse via the Department of Government Efficiency (aka DOGE).

It's not about loyalty. It's about power, money, and mutual benefit. Financial preservation outranks all else for billionaires, so even though Trump clearly finds Musk super annoying, they continue working together. However, the key problem with this arrangement is that alliances built on self-interest rarely last in the long run — especially when the major stakeholders are notoriously egotistical and used to controlling everyone around them. 

Transactional relationships are pretty cutthroat too, and once one party doesn't need the other anymore, the latter is tossed aside without a second thought. And we know that Trump and Musk's alliance is no exception because the bright red flags are everywhere.

Notably, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) isn't the first time that Elon Musk has worked with Donald Trump. During the divisive politician's first term in office, Musk was part of the Strategic and Policy Forum and the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative. But their partnership didn't last. Just five months after Trump took office, the tech billionaire cut ties when he withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. "[I] am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk announced in a since-deleted tweet (via The Verge).

At first glance, it seemed like the Tesla CEO was taking a stand for the environment. But there was more to it. His electric car company thrives on the idea that electric vehicles are a key solution to climate change. Trump's push for fossil fuels and his dismissal of climate concerns posed a direct threat to Musk's business interests. Given their history of clashing over conflicting priorities, it's only a matter of time before it happens again.

Donald Trump has a track record of turning on his former allies, and all signs point to Elon Musk being next in line. For now, the SpaceX founder's presence shields Trump from some of the heat, which is undoubtedly a relief. But that could change fast if any of DOGE's key policies stir up trouble within the core MAGA base, which keeps the president in power. If forced to choose between alienating Musk or losing GOP loyalty, the decision is obvious. He would fire Musk in a heartbeat and blame him for the fallout rather than taking the hit himself. In fact, the former "Apprentice" host has done it before — quite publicly, too.

Trump got rid of both his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former fixer Michael Cohen, and they were far more loyal than Musk to boot. We also know that he wouldn't be adverse to turning on the tech billionaire because of Trump's statement during his joint address to Congress on March 5, 2025: "The days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over," (via X, formerly known as Twitter). 

This was ironic given that no unelected person has had as much public control as Musk in recent history. Even though Trump didn't mean it then, since the so-called "first buddy" still heads up DOGE, it nonetheless demonstrates that he wouldn't mind turning on the SpaceX founder to win back his MAGA base.

Almost everyone agrees that a power struggle is quietly brewing between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. The White House knows it too, which is why press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeatedly tries and fails to shut down any rumors of Trump-Musk tension. But the biggest sign isn't what people are saying, it's how the billionaires are reacting. And judging by the president's response, he's not happy. When Time Magazine published a photo of Musk seated in the Oval Office, looking every bit like he was in charge, Trump's reaction was to discredit the well-regarded outlet altogether by claiming he didn't even know they were still in business.

The problem was that just months earlier, in December, the divisive politician proudly accepted an award from the magazine and even bragged about it. "This is an honor, a tremendous honor," Trump said at the time (via YouTube). Meanwhile, his pal is hungry for power. Musk openly slammed Trump's AI project, and despite not holding an official position, he's a White House regular, even taking meetings in the Oval Office, which is normally reserved for the president. If this power struggle continues, Musk may be on a countdown to his GOP excommunication — unless he manages to amass enough influence before Trump turns on him.