> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.europeans.today/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Why the Musk and Trump relationship is breaking down – a psychologist explains - URL: https://www.europeans.today/2025/06/07/why-the-musk-and-trump-relationship-is-breaking-down-a-psychologist-explains/ - Published: 2025-06-07T00:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2025-06-07T23:42:10.000Z - Description: Trump and Musk’s alliance has imploded. Egos clashed, policies collided, and mutual contempt exploded after political betrayal, financial backlash, and a fierce battle for dominance played out in full public view. - Author: Professor Geoffrey Beattie - Tags: Musk-Trump Relationship, Psychology in Politics, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Donald Trump, Elon Musk, United States, US Politics, Analysis **What you need to know** 🔹 Trump and Musk’s powerful alliance collapsed amid clashing egos and political tension. 🔹 Disputes included tax credits, military secrets, and Tesla’s tumbling stock performance. 🔹 Musk rejected Trump’s spending bill, portraying himself as principled and independent. 🔹 Their fallout highlights how narcissism, disgust, and contempt sabotage close relationships. I t is [not a good](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/06/03/elon-musk-slams-trump-plan/?utm%5Fcampaign=dr-june-25&utm%5Fcontent=dtpannual%5F20250604%5Fit&campaign%5Fid=13763982&ref=europeans.today) break-up. These were always two big beasts used to getting their own way. Two alpha males, if you like the [evolutionary metaphor](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3637992.html?ref=europeans.today), trying to get along. And now the Donald Trump and Elon Musk relationship [is in meltdown](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cyvm2181lqvt?ref=europeans.today). Who could forget that iconic image from just a few short weeks back? Elon Musk standing behind the seated US president, Donald Trump, in the Oval Office, towering over him. Trump, his hands clasped, having to turn awkwardly to look up at him. That [silent language of the body](https://www.routledge.com/Rethinking-Body-Language-How-Hand-Movements-Reveal-Hidden-Thoughts/Beattie/p/book/9780415538893?ref=europeans.today). Musk, accompanied by his four-year-old, a charming and informal image, or that great evolutionary signal of [mating potential](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioral-and-brain-sciences/article/sex-differences-in-human-mate-preferences-evolutionary-hypotheses-tested-in-37-cultures/0E112ACEB2E7BC877805E3AC11ABC889?ref=europeans.today) and dominance, depending on your point of view. These were also clearly two massive [narcissistic](https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429034879-13/culture-narcissism-christopher-lasch?ref=europeans.today) egos out in their gleaming open-top speedster. Musk was [appointed](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-makes-musk-worlds-richest-man-special-government-employee-2025-02-03/?ref=europeans.today) special advisor to Trump, heading the Department of Government Efficiency, cutting excess and waste. The backseat driver for a while. There were a lot of bureaucratic [casualties](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/us/politics/federal-workers-musk-doge.html?ref=europeans.today) already, road kill at the side of the highway as the sports car roared on with frightening speed. But things were always going to be difficult if they hit a bump in the road. And they did. Perhaps, more quickly than many had imagined. There were differing views on what caused the crash. [Many](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-elon-musk-fallout-doge-tesla-b2763417.html?ref=europeans.today) pointed to the dramatic fall in Tesla’s sales – a **71%** fall in profits in one quarter – and the inevitable impact on Musk’s reputation. Since the break-up, Tesla’s share price has also [dropped sharply](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cyvm2181lqvt?ref=europeans.today), as investors have panicked. The attacks [on Tesla](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLXSotkY1oU&ref=europeans.today) showrooms couldn’t have helped either. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2025/06/x-00004.png)](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1930667528696828120?ref=europeans.today) — CREDIT: X-TWITTER/ELON MUSK — Others pointed to Trump’s proposed removal of [the tax credit](https://www.npr.org/2025/06/03/nx-s1-5414604/ev-tax-credits-republican-bill?ref=europeans.today) for owners of electric vehicles, or the political backlash in Washington over Space X’s potential involvement in Trump’s proposed “[golden dome](https://theconversation.com/golden-dome-what-trump-should-learn-from-reagans-star-wars-missile-defence-system-plan-257372?ref=europeans.today)” anti-missile defense system. However, according to former White House strategist Steve Bannon, what really caused the crash was when the president [refused](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/05/elon-musk-doge-opponents-dc/682866/?ref=europeans.today) to show Musk the Pentagon’s attack plans for any possible war with China. There’s only so far being the president’s best buddy can get you. Bannon is reported as saying: “You could feel it. Everything changed.” That, according to Bannon, was the beginning of the end. Elon Musk has criticised Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’. So now we watch Trump and Musk stumbling away [from the crash scene](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cyvm2181lqvt?ref=europeans.today). One minute, Trump is putting on a show for the cameras. He’s beaming away and [introducing](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tariff-steel-aluminum-effective-date-trump/?ref=europeans.today) the [“big, beautiful bill”](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-05/what-is-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/105378960?ref=europeans.today), a budget reconciliation bill that rolls together hundreds of controversial proposals. Next, he is accusing Musk of [“going crazy”](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cyvm2181lqvt?ref=europeans.today) and talking about withdrawing government contracts from the Musk empire. Musk is unhappy too. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” he [wrote on X](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1929954109689606359?ref=europeans.today). “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong.” ### **Rejection and repositioning** He says he’s disgusted by the bill. [Disgust](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-07784-047?ref=europeans.today) is one of the most primitive of all the emotions. A survival mechanism – you must avoid what disgusts you. He’s social signalling here, alerting others, warning them that there’s something disgusting in the camp. Musk is highly attuned to public perception, perhaps even more so than Trump (which is saying something). With his acquisition of [X (formerly Twitter)](https://abcnews.go.com/Business/timeline-elon-musks-tumultuous-twitter-acquisition-attempt/story?id=86611191&ref=europeans.today), Musk was able to direct (and add to) online discourse, shaping public conversations. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2025/06/x-00005.png)](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1930685402631053403?ref=europeans.today) — CREDIT: X-TWITTER/ELON MUSK — Psychologically, Musk’s rejection of Trump is an attempt to simultaneously elevate himself and diminish the man behind the bill. He can call out the president’s action like nobody else. He is positioning himself anew as that free thinker, that risk taker, [innovative](https://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypercy/2023/09/26/is-elon-musk-the-greatest-leader-on-earth/?ref=europeans.today), courageous, unfettered by any ties. That is his personality, his brand – and he’s reasserting it. Trump on Musk’s criticism of the ‘big beautiful bill’. But it’s also a [vengeful](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-07309-006?ref=europeans.today) act. And it’s perhaps reminiscent of another political insider (and geek), former Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings, who was sacked by the then-UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, in 2020\. Cummings was accused of [masterminding leaks](https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2022/01/is-dominic-cummings-behind-the-downing-street-party-leaks?ref=europeans.today) about the social gatherings in Downing Street. He went on to [criticise Johnson](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/world/europe/cummings-johnson-covid.html?ref=europeans.today) as lacking the necessary discipline and focus for a prime minister, as well as questioning his competence and decision-making abilities. The revenge of a self-proclaimed genius. And revenge is sweet. In a [2004 study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15333831/?ref=europeans.today), researchers scanned participants’ brains using [positron emission tomography (PET)](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/positron-emission-tomography-pet?ref=europeans.today) – a medical imaging technique that is used to study brain function (among other things) – while the participants played an economic game based on trust. When trust was violated, participants wanted revenge, and this was reflected in increased activity in the reward-related regions of the brain, [the dorsal striatum](https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/posts/know-your-brain-striatum?ref=europeans.today). Revenge, in other words, is primarily about making yourself feel better rather than righting any wrongs. Your act may make you appear moral, but it may be more selfish. But revenge for what here? That’s where these big narcissistic egos come into play. Psychologically, [narcissists](https://www.routledge.com/Lies-Lying-and-Liars-A-Psychological-Analysis/Beattie/p/book/9781032495941?srsltid=AfmBOoqpqYQRaYzs2um5aVtJ8kQYTVdM9GEZXXz0ZZufFQnj1hXXPUQh&ref=europeans.today) are highly sensitive to perceived slights – real or imagined. Musk may have felt Trump was attempting to diminish his achievements for political gain, violating this pact of mutual respect. This kind of sensitivity can quickly transmogrify admiration into contempt. Contempt, coincidentally, is the single best [predictor](https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mLZ5EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA362&dq=gottman+contempt+in+relationships+gottman&ots=vKIFmTqvBu&sig=944DE3iKvtZce%5FznWxBB9BTZcnk&redir%5Fesc=y&ref=europeans.today#v=onepage&q=gottman%20contempt%20in%20relationships%20gottman&f=false) of a breakdown in very close relationships. Disgust and contempt are powerful emotions, evolving to protect us – disgust from physical contamination (spoiled food, disease), and contempt from social or moral contamination (betrayal, incompetence). Both involve rejection – disgust rejects something physically; contempt rejects something socially or morally. Musk may be giving it to Trump with both barrels here. Break-ups are always hard, they get much harder when emotions like these get intertwined with the process. But how will the most powerful man in the world respond to this sort of rejection from the richest man in the world? And where will it end? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2021/09/end-flat-1.png) ### **GOING FURTHER** - ###### [Trump and Musk: The 10 days that unravelled their relationship](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyr7v79q4yo?ref=europeans.today) | BBC NEWS - ###### [Trump news at a glance: Elon Musk rift deepens as president says ‘poor guy’s got a problem](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/07/trump-administration-news-updates-today?ref=europeans.today) | THE GUARDIAN - ###### [Trump says he has no plans to speak to Musk as feud persists](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-musk-bromance-descends-into-brawl-over-contracts-impeachment-2025-06-06/?ref=europeans.today) | REUTERS - ###### [JD Vance says Elon Musk’s attack against Trump is a ‘huge mistake’](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/07/jd-vance-musk-trump-feud?ref=europeans.today) | THE GUARDIAN - ###### [Elon Musk’s deep dive into politics was bad for business. His breakup with Trump could hurt even worse](https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/06/business/musk-trump-tesla-stock?ref=europeans.today) | CNN - ###### [Trump asks aides if they think Musk’s behavior could be related to alleged drug use, source says](https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/06/politics/musk-alleged-drug-use-trump?ref=europeans.today) | CNN - ###### [The Trump-Musk feud shows danger of handing the keys of power to one person](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/07/trump-musk-feud-power?ref=europeans.today) | THE GUARDIAN ### --- ### **Sources:** ##### ▪ This piece was originally published in [The Conversation](https://theconversation.com/why-the-musk-and-trump-relationship-is-breaking-down-a-psychologist-explains-258213?ref=europeans.today) and re-published in Europeans TODAY on 7 June 2025\. | The author writes in a personal capacity. ##### ▪ **Cover:** AI-Generated image. --- ![The Conversation](https://counter.theconversation.com/content/258213/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic)