The relationship between US President Donald Trump and former aide Elon Musk has plunged to a new low, with the pair trading bitter barbs on social media.
Hours after Mr Trump lamented his break-up with Mr Musk at a White House press conference, the president took to his social media platform, threatening to cut off government contracts with Mr Musk's companies.
He also said that he "asked" Mr Musk to leave because he was "wearing thin".
In response, Mr Musk took to his own social media outlet, claiming Mr Trump "is in the Epstein files" and backing calls for the president to be impeached.
Until last week, Mr Musk held a cost-cutting role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
However, after the Tesla billionaire opposed the president's "big, beautiful bill" — which would increase the debt ceiling and slash taxes — Mr Trump says he asked Mr Musk to leave.
Feud plays out on rival social media platforms
Posting on X, Mr Musk said "without me, Trump would have lost the election", accusing him of "such ingratitude".
"Elon was 'wearing thin'," Mr Trump hit back on Truth Social.
"I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!"
He then added: "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!"
Tesla shares closed down more than 14 per cent following Mr Trump's comments, slashing $US153 billion ($235 billion) of the company's value.
Minutes after the closing bell, Musk replied, "Yes," to a post on X saying Trump should be impeached, before hitting back with his own claims.
"Time to drop the really big bomb: [Trump] is in the Epstein files," he said.
"That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!"
Mr Musk offered no proof to back these claims.
Mr Trump later hit back on Truth Social, saying "I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago".
What are the Epstein files?
The "Epstein files" refers to a huge tranche of material relating to the late Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who was accused of abusing underage girls.
Thousands of pages of records have been released throughout the years, but Mr Musk’s latest claims tap into suspicions among conspiracy theorists and online sleuths that incriminating and sensitive files in the government's possession have yet to be released.
The previously released files included a 2016 deposition in which an accuser recounted spending several hours with Epstein at Mr Trump's Atlantic City casino but didn't say if she actually met Mr Trump and did not accuse him of any wrongdoing.
Mr Trump has also said that he once thought Epstein was a "terrific guy" but that they later had a falling out.
'I'm very disappointed in Elon'
This escalating feud between Mr Trump and Mr Musk comes as the US president attempts to muscle his "big, beautiful bill" — a mammoth plan for the US economy, which will increase the debt ceiling, slash taxes and pare back Medicaid health benefits for the poorest Americans — through the US legislature.
Mr Musk, one of the Republicans' largest donors, this week lashed out at the bill, branding it a "disgusting abomination" that will "burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt".
The president escalated the feud on Thursday, local time, as he laid into the Tesla CEO during a press conference at White House.
"Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," he said.
"He said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn't said bad things about me personally, but I'm sure that'll be next.
"But I'm, I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot."
The president claimed Mr Musk, who until last week held a cost-cutting role in his administration as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was against the legislation due to proposed elimination of consumer tax credits for electric vehicles.
"Elon knew the inner workings of this bill, better than almost anybody sitting here," Mr Trump said.
"He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the EV [electric vehicle] mandate, because that’s billions and billions of dollars."
'He is not the first'
The president also hinted that Mr Musk, who he praised heavily when he left his White House role last week, was upset because he missed working for the government.
"He's not the first," Mr Trump said.
"People leave my administration, then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it and some of them actually become hostile."
As Mr Trump was speaking, Mr Musk appeared to double down on his opposition, writing on X, "Slim Beautiful Bill for the win".
He also reposted comments from the president made in 2013 in which he said he was "embarrassed" Republicans were raising the debt ceiling, calling them "wise words".
Ramping up his attacks, he accused Mr Trump of "ingratitude", adding: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”
He said he was comfortable with the cuts to electric vehicle credits as long as Republicans removed what he called a "mountain of disgusting pork" in wasteful spending from the bill.
The legislation passed Congress earlier this week but could face fierce opposition from the Senate from Democrats and some sceptical Republicans.
ABC/wires
