The relationship between the richest man in the world and the most powerful one has spectacularly exploded, asElon Muskpublicly agreedDonald Trumpshould be impeached and linked him to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Musk stepped down from his role as a special government employee on 28 May after showing discontent with Trump’s tax spending bill, officially known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but had until this week stayed relatively restrained in his remarks.
But in series of posts on Thursday, the tech billionaire turned aggressively against the president, who had also begun publicly mocking Musk.
“Time to drop the really big bomb:Donald Trumpis in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk wrote. His comments came after Trump threatened to cut subsidies for Musk’s companies as it would save “billions” and accused Musk of acting out of self-interest.
Here are the key stories at a glance:
Amid the feud, Musk responded to a social media post in which a prominent Musk supporter and right-wing activist suggested Trump should be impeached and replaced by the vice-president, JD Vance, to which Musk replied, “Yes”.
The Musk-Trump alliance began to unravel publicly earlier this week, when Musk described the tax spending bill as a “disgusting abomination” that the tech billionaire highlighted would add $2.4tn to the deficit over the next decade, citing a non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimate.
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Tesla shares dropped by about 14.2%on Thursday at market close, wiping roughly $152bn off the value of the company as the feud between Musk, the company’s CEO, and Trump erupted into full public view. One of Musk’s complaints was that Trump was looking to scrap a subsidy that helps Americans buy EVs, including those made by Tesla.
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Amid the dramatic row, eyes are now turning to Republican lawmakers weighing whether to pass the so-called One Big, Beautiful Bill Act in theSenate. It was approved by just a single vote in theHouse of Representativeswith no Democratic support last month.
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Trump has said it may be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” rather than pursue peace immediately, as the German chancellor,Friedrich Merz, urged him to increase pressure on Russia.
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The United States is imposing sanctions on four judges from the international criminal court for what it has called its “illegitimate actions” targeting the United States and Israel. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, announced the sanctions in a statement, targeting Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.
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Trump said he had accepted an invitation to meet Xi Jinping in China after a phone conversation on trade was held between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies. In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the “very good” call lasted about 90 minutes and the conversation was “almost entirely focused on trade”.
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The US defence secretary,Pete Hegseth, said Nato allies were “very close, almost near consensus” to an agreement to significantly raise targets for defence spending to 5% of GDP in the next decade.
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Chinese students in the United States are questioning their future in the country after the state department announced last week that it would “aggressively” revoke visas for Chinese students and enhance scrutiny of future applications fromChinaand Hong Kong. The Guardian’s Amy Hawkins shares their stories.
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Trump has heaped criticism on the former German chancellor Angela Merkelfor opening up her country to refugees, telling her successor: “I told her it shouldn’t have happened.”
A leading TV weatherman in Florida has warned viewers on air that he may not be able to properly inform them of incoming hurricanesbecause of cuts by the Trump administration to federal weather forecasting.
Joe Biden accused Trump of “distraction” after he launched an investigation into the former Democratic president’s time in office, claiming Biden’s top aides had covered up his cognitive decline and taken decisions on his behalf.
Catching up?Here’s what happened on4 June 2025.