Image source, Reuters

Steve Bannon, a long-time ally of Donald Trump, has said the US president should "seize SpaceX tonight, before midnight".

SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, receives billions of dollars in US government contracts, including funding for multiple projects with NASA.

"He's a know-it-all. He knows some engineering, don't get me wrong," Bannon said on his own podcast, War Room, referring to Musk. "But he doesn't know anything about the real world."

Bannon's comments come as Trump and Musk traded threats over cutting government contracts to Musk's businesses.

Lily Jamali
North America Technology Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

It has long intrigued me that President Donald Trump never fully re-embraced X, formerly Twitter, despite Elon Musk inviting him back onto his platform.

Recall that during the first Trump administration, Twitter was Trump’s favourite megaphone.

When the company (pre-Musk) removed him from the platform following the 6 January Capitol attacks, Trump started his own: Truth Social.

And today, years later, that’s the platform Trump is using, external to fire off his threats against Elon Musk.

Perhaps it was the possibility of a moment just like this one that kept Trump away.

“It’s about control," said Noah Smith, writer of the Noahpinion Substack, who spoke with me by phone after the spat erupted.

"Trump realized that if he was dependent on Elon’s platform, Elon could have that to hold over him, and then have power over him.”

Trump has an intimate understanding of how power works after years of dealings in New York real estate and finance, Smith notes.

After purchasing the platform in 2022 and taking it private, Musk arranged for his artificial intelligence startup xAI to purchase X earlier this year.

The White House has responded Musk's allegation that Trump appears in unreleased files held by the government related to late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk provided no evidence for the claim.

"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," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

"The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.”

This could be a bumpy ride - hold tightpublished at 23:33 British Summer Time 5 June

23:33 BST 5 June

Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent

The disintegration of the relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk - that most people predicted - is now a reality.

Exactly a week ago, the two of them were side by side in the Oval Office in a show of unity at the end of Musk’s stint as a special government employee – a full-blown political love-in if ever I saw one.

But that apparent harmony lasted about 48 hours. Over the weekend, Musk launched a blistering attack on Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful” spending bill, calling it an “abomination”.

Today we saw the president responding in person for the first time. Speaking here at the White House, he said he was “very disappointed” in Musk.

Trump claimed that once people leave his orbit, they often turn hostile and fall victim to “Trump derangement syndrome”.

Now, Musk has completely unloaded on the president on X - his own platform, accusing Trump of ingratitude and claiming the president wouldn’t have won the election without his support; pinning all this to the top of his timeline – and dredging up lots of Trump quotes to reinforce his point.

So, now we have the richest man in the world at war with the most powerful man in the world - hold tight.

Earlier today, we reached out to the FBI for a comment on Musk's allegation that Trump appears in unreleased files held by the government related to late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

For context, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the US's national investigative agency, which has handled information related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

"The FBI does not have a comment on the matter," it replied.

If you’re just joining us, the world's richest person and the most powerful politician are at loggerheads.

Just last week, tech billionaire Elon Musk got a warm send-off from US President Donald Trump as he stepped down from his role as a special employee for the US government.

But today, after the president said he was "disappointed" and "surprised" by Musk’s criticism of his tax and spending bill, Musk didn’t let it slide.

He took to X, calling the bill a “big, ugly spending bill,” and started a poll asking if it’s time to create a new political party “that actually represents the 80% in the middle.”

He’s pinned the poll to the top of his X account. At the time of writing, over 2.1 million have voted, with 81.9% saying “Yes”.

Trump responded, threatening to cancel Musk’s government contracts, saying Elon Musk “went CRAZY”.

Since then, Musk’s said Trump’s tariffs will cause a recession, and escalated things with an unverified claim about Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump’s latest: “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago.”

Stay with us as this online feud, which could spill into real life, rumbles on.

The spat may help Tesla brand – but what about Musk's image?published at 22:21 British Summer Time 5 June

22:21 BST 5 June

Lily Jamali
North America Technology Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Elon Musk’s foray into right-wing politics cost Tesla dearly at the start of the Trump administration.

Protests, dubbed #TeslaTakedown, have played out across the country most weekends since Trump took office, and Tesla sales have plunged.

"He should not be deciding the fate of our democracy by disassembling our government piece by piece. It's not right,” protestor Linda Koistinen told me at a demonstration outside a Berkeley, California Tesla dealership in February.

Koistinen said she wanted to make a “visible stand” against Musk personally.

Now, Musk’s stunning spat with Trump may actually help the Tesla brand, according to Patrick Moorhead, chief analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

“We’re a very forgiving country,” Moorhead says in a telephone interview.

“These things take time,” he acknowledges, but “it’s not unprecedented”.

Earlier this week, in an interview, veteran tech reporter and analyst Kara Swisher likened Musk’s personal brand to that of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

She said Gates was once regarded as “the Darth Vader of Silicon Valley” because of his "arrogant and rude" personality.

Today, despite his flaws, Gates has largely rehabilitated his image.

“He learned. He grew up. People can change,” Swisher told me, even as she acknowledged that Musk is “clearly troubled.”

Whether that will draw prospective Tesla buyers back to the brand is another story.

Image source, Reuters

In the past hour or so, we've heard from Musk, who has threatened to decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.

The Dragon 1 and Dragon 2 versions are used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station and are essential for Nasa's operations.

"NASA will continue to execute upon the president’s vision for the future of space," a spokesperson tells the BBC. "We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the president’s objectives in space are met."

Where does Trump-Musk row go next?published at 22:06 British Summer Time 5 June

22:06 BST 5 June

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

There had been some thought that Trump’s surprise announcement last night of a new travel ban, additional sanctions on sanctions on Harvard and a conspiracy-laced administration investigation of former President Joe Biden were all efforts to change the subject from Musk’s criticism.

The White House and its allies in Congress seemed careful not to further antagonise him after his earlier comments.

Then Trump spoke out - and... so much for that.

Now the question is where the dispute goes next.

Parliamentary Republicans could find it harder to keep their members behind Trump’s bill with Musk providing rhetorical - and, perhaps financial - air for those who break ranks.

Trump, who takes pride in being a devastating counterpuncher, will have plenty of opportunity to lay into Musk.

What will happen to Musk’s Doge allies still in the Trump administration or government contracts to Musk-related companies or Biden-era investigations into Musk’s business dealings?

"The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s governmental subsidies and contracts," Trump posted menacingly on his own social media website.

If Trump turns the machinery of government against Musk, the tech billionaire will feel pain. Tesla's share price was down 14% on Thursday.

But Musk also has near limitless resources to respond - including by funding insurgent challengers to Republicans in next year’s elections and primaries.

He may not win a fight against the whole of Trump’s government, but he could exact a high political price.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington

Image source, EPA

The public feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk is just getting started, but it could have real consequences in the US.

After Trump threatened to cut government contracts, Musk has already said he might decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. That craft was designed with $396m (£292m) from Nasa.

The Dragon 1 and Dragon 2 versions of the vehicle have been used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. If Musk goes ahead, it’s not clear when it would happen, but it would seriously affect Nasa’s ability to operate in space.

This exchange of threats also shows how much the US government depends on Musk’s firms. SpaceX and Starlink both have hefty contracts with the Department of Defense, and some projects are classified. Musk himself has a security clearance, which has sparked controversy.

It's also unclear if Musk's very vocal opposition to the "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill will be enough to sway any lawmakers. This could potentially derail a piece of legislation that Trump has pushed hard for, and which has become one of the signature policies of his new administration.

Another possibility is that people in Trump's orbit, including politicians on Capitol Hill, rally around the president and criticise Musk, even if many of them were previously very supportive of the tech tycoon.

Where this all ends is anyone's guess.

And the drama goes on.

In his latest burst of tweets, Elon Musk has shared a post saying President Trump should be impeached and replaced by Vice-President JD Vance.

And just moments ago, Musk said Trump's global tariffs will "cause a recession in the second half of this year".

• If you’d like a reminder of what tariffs Trump has announced and why, we’ve got it here

Image source, Reuters

Frightening, fascinating and shocking dramapublished at 21:34 British Summer Time 5 June

21:34 BST 5 June

Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent

So often politics struggles to break through, showbiz for ugly people someone once called it.

But these past three hours between the world's richest billionaire and the world's most powerful man have been pure box office.

Like the best dramas, it's frightening, fascinating, and shocking, all at once.

Frightening because one of them has multinational, multibillion-dollar companies to run - the other has a global superpower to steer through a chaotic and dangerous world.

It's fascinating because you can't take your eyes off them lobbing metaphorical rocks at one another; indulging in plain name-calling - and trading threats.

And it's shocking because these two both wield real power in their own way - and frankly you just don't know what they might do next.

To steal the president's surprising metaphor from earlier today when he described the Ukraine-Russia war in terms of two kids fighting in the playground - you can't help seeing this unfolding drama in those exact same terms.

Democrats stand back in Trump-Musk spatpublished at 21:31 British Summer Time 5 June

21:31 BST 5 June

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Democrats are on the sidelines, wondering how to respond.

Few seem willing to welcome Musk, a former donor to their party, back into the fold. But there is also the old adage that the enemy of an enemy is a friend.

"It’s a zero-sum game," Liam Kerr, a Democratic strategist, tells Politico. "Anything that he does that moves more toward Democrats hurts Republicans."

At the very least, Democrats seem happy to stand back and let the two men exchange blows. And until they abandon this fight, the din is likely to drown out everything else in American politics.

But do not expect this spat to end any time soon.

"Trump has 3.5 years left as president,” Musk wrote on X, “but I will be around for 40+ years..."

A police appreciation event at the White House has ended without Trump mentioning Musk, and the president did not take any questions from gathered reporters.

Image source, White House

With US markets closed, Tesla's stock price dropped 14% today in what Reuters described as "heavy trading" fuelled by the very public fight.

The price had already been edging down in the first week of June, after improving in May when Musk made it clear he would give the EV maker more of his time and attention.

Today's eruption of bad feeling between Musk and Trump, though, seemed to push it over the edge.

Tesla has lost its $1trn (£740bn) valuation and is currently worth $916bn, according to CNBC.

Still the stock price at $278.40 per share is significantly higher than a year ago, when it was $178.

Image source, Reuters

Musk’s divided attention adds doubt to Austin robotaxis projectpublished at 21:26 British Summer Time 5 June

21:26 BST 5 June

Lily Jamali
North America Technology Correspondent

Elon Musk’s airing of his dirty White House laundry is raising the possibility that his return to Tesla and other business interests might not be quite the salve investors had hoped for.

Tesla shares have been in freefall today as he’s been sounding off about President Donald Trump on social media.

I’ve been reporting this week on Musk’s next steps. Most agree that Tesla’s future in particular depends on how well he delivers on autonomous technology.

The expectation had been that he would turn his full attention to plans to launch robotaxis in Austin, Texas this month.

He posted to X last week that the electric vehicle maker had been testing the Model Y with no drivers on board.

“I believe 90% of the future value of Tesla is going to be autonomous and robotics,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told me, adding that the Austin launch would be “a watershed moment”.

But with Musk’s attention divided, the project’s odds of success are cast into doubt in Tesla’s chosen hometown of Austin, where rivals like Waymo and Zoom are already up and running.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, White House

We are watching the White House now where Trump is speaking to the Fraternal Order of Police, a union that represents police officers across the US.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is also in attendance.

We are following along, and will bring you any updates if the president says anything about Musk.

Image source, X

As we've reported earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social: "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!"

Over the years, Musk and his companies have received at least $38 billion (£28bn) in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, according to analysis by the Washington Post.

Musk replied to a different tweet, which shared a screenshot of Trump’s message: "Go ahead, make my day..."

In another tweet, where Musk copied Trump's post, he says: "In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately".

Dragon is the spacecraft that's been taking Nasa astronauts to space.

Musk has escalated this feud even further, suggesting without evidence in a new post on X that Trump appears in unreleased files held by the government related to late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Last year, court documents released by a judge named numerous public figures connected to Epstein. Trump was named in one document. Being named in the documents does not carry any inference of wrongdoing, and there were no allegations made against Trump.

While running for the White House, Trump had promised to release more files on Epstein. In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a tranche of newly declassified files but they again contained no major new allegations about Epstein nor revelations about his associates.

Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking and died by suicide while awaiting trial. Trump was president at the time. He said he "knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him" but had a "falling out with him a long time ago".

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter

The hit to Tesla shares is accelerating as the sniping continues.

Just recently shares were down more than 15%, which if it were to hold when trading officially closes in 20 minutes would mark the steepest one-day decline since 2020.

Investors in the company are watching in horror.

“Can someone please take the phone away from him!” Ross Gerber, co-founder of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, writes on social media, external. “Tesla is getting destroyed.”

Gerber was one of Musk’s early backers, but his firm sold off about 10% of its holdings in Tesla earlier this year, according to Business Insider.

He has been vocal about the damage Musk’s politics have done to the car company’s brand.