They were once the best of friends, but last night that came to an end – and it all unfolded online as people across the world looked on… and retweeted.

Tension between Elon Musk and Donald Trump had been building for several days after the SpaceX billionaire criticised the US president’s signature tax bill.

While initially it remained cordial, the president suggested his former backer and adviser missed being in government and suffered from “Trump derangement syndrome”, leading to a sudden and dramatic deterioration in relations between the pair.

They have two of the largest platforms in the world, and last night, they turned them on each other. While much of Europe slept through it, here is every insult and barb as it happened… so far.

6.39pm: ‘Big ugly spending bill’

Musk tells Trump his “big ugly spending bill” will make the economic situation worse.

Five minutes later he retweets a video in which he says the bill will increase the US’s deficit to $2.5 trillion (£1.85 trn).

AT 6.48pm he shares a post about the bill’s popularity, simply saying: “Kill bill”.

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6.49pm: Trump’s ‘body double’

Earlier in the evening, Musk reshares a series of posts (dating back to 2012) from Trump’s X account, including ones saying deficits should not be allowed.

He then reshares a post of someone praising him, adding: “Where is the man who wrote these words? Was he replaced by a body double!?”

He then retweets a meme, making light of Trump’s plan, which links to a poll he had run the previous day.

7.23pm: Back to the bill

Musk starts tweeting about the “big ugly spending bill” again, saying members of Congress didn’t even have time to read it before it was passed.

He continues to tweet about this for most of the night, including accusing the government of “spending America into bankruptcy”.

7.30pm: Who is right?

Musk retweets a poll that shows 76% of 1.5 million voters think he is right in his spat with the president.

7.37pm: Elon was ‘wearing thin’

Trump shares a post on his Truth Social site that accuses Musk of going “crazy” after the president took away his EV mandate.

Musk responds by sharing a number of former interviews, including a video from 2021 where he says the industry does not need EV tax credits.

Trump then shares a post in which he writes the “easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts”.

8.10pm: The Epstein ‘bomb’

Arguably the largest moment in their fight – Musk accuses Trump of being in the Epstein files.

He gives no evidence for the claim. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismisses the comment.

9.06pm: Musk ‘turning against me’

Trump says he doesn’t mind Musk turning against him, but adds that “he should have done so months ago”.

He then goes on to voice continued support for his bill, calling it “one of the greatest bills ever presented to Congress”.

Read more:
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9.09pm: Decommissioning Dragon

Following Trump’s statement about terminating his contracts, Musk tweets: “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.”

Dragon is the only US spacecraft available to deliver crew to and from the International Space Station.

Two minutes later he retweets a post calling on Trump to be impeached, adding simply: “Yes.”

9.29pm: Trump’s tariffs

Musk hits out at Trump’s tariffs, resharing a tweet from someone who called them “stupid”.

“The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year,” he adds.

For the rest of the evening, Musk reshares posts from other users, often adding a laughing face emoji, or the occasional comment, including the words: “If America goes broke, nothing else matters.”

2.20am: Musk says he won’t decommission spacecraft

Just after 2am, an account with a few hundred followers tweets Musk: “This is a shame this back and forth. You are both better than this. Cool off and take a step back for a couple days.”

In response, Musk agrees he won’t decommission the Dragon spacecraft.

Elon Musk posted in February that he loved his president, patron and personal friend, “as much as a straight man can love another man.”

And they had so much in common: colossal egos; mercurial political views; compulsive social media habits.

Yet, it was clear to almost all but the most hopeless MAGA romantics that this rocket-fuelled megastar bromance was doomed to fail.

But who would have predicted an end this spectacular – their relationship undergoing a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” to rival the most explosive of Mr Musk‘s test rockets.

Their hysterical tit-for-tat on social media might be the stuff of Hollywood tabloids, but its consequences could be grave.

The break-up has already had a major impact on Mr Musk’s wealth, with Tesla shares sliding 15% on the news.

But Mr Musk’s social media platform and $250m of political donations played no small part in getting Mr Trump and his supporters into the White House.

If that money and influence were to turn against them, it could see them out.

And in terms of strategic significance, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is no ordinary company.

In 2024, it averaged a rocket launch every three days, accounting for nearly 90% of the US orbital launch market and took more cargo into space last year than the rest of the world combined.

Read more:
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Elon Musk already appears to have backed down on his threat to decommission the SpaceX Crew Dragon that ferries astronauts to the International Space Station.

Doing so would have risked the lives of the crew on board, leaving the US and its international partners reliant on Russian hardware to take them in and out of orbit.

Nor is it likely Mr Trump would, or even could, take down a company as necessary to US interests as SpaceX.

Although the souring of relations will be good news for his up-and-coming rivals like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin launch company.

SpaceX is heavily reliant on government contracts from NASA and the US military. But it could be years before a competitor can rival its near-monopoly on space launches.

The two men could, of course, patch things up. It wouldn’t be the first time either has said outrageous things on social media that they later shrugged off.

But in one way, the damage has already been done.

The world has witnessed two of its most powerful people row like teenagers with no evidence of the wisdom, restraint or cool-headedness most would expect of reliable businessmen and heads of state.

Given the state of the world right now, what the lurid details of their row says about the two men is more terrifying than titillating.

At a coffee shop in northern Virginia, you’ll find a taste of the Middle East.

But President Trump’s travel ban has turned the stomachs of the owner and her staff.

Layla Atik is from Yemen, her employees are from Afghanistan and Eritrea, three of the 12 countries on the restricted list.

“I see firsthand the struggles that my own colleagues go through, and they’re very hard-working people,” Layla told me.

“So, coming here, they’re adding value to this economy. They’re not coming here and causing trouble or anything,” she added.

Atefeh Aslami, who works in the cafe, fled from Afghanistan but now fears she won’t be granted asylum in America.

“If I go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us,” she said.

“My children don’t want to go back to Afghanistan, especially my girl, who will not be allowed to go to school.

“It’s a matter of life for me, for my husband, for my children, for all of us.”

Pouring from a cezve, a Turkish coffee pot, her Afghan colleague Zahir Moradi said: “If someone is trying to come here… it’s because they need help, because they want to live a better life, that’s it.”

A wall, emblazoned in gold with the words “life begins”, forms the backdrop to a vast array of Middle Eastern coffee and pastries.

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But this 2025 version of Trump’s 2017 ‘Muslim ban’ turns the so-called American dream into a nightmare for millions around the globe.

President Trump claimed last weekend’s firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado, justified new travel restrictions.

But a Vietnam veteran, drinking coffee with his family at the cafe in Virginia, didn’t believe the latest ban would make America safer.

He said: “I’m a firm believer in allowing immigration, and I think it’s terrible that we’re deporting people that really have never done anything wrong.

“They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, they get picked up by ICE (Immigration Compliance and Enforcement), and off they go.”

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His nephew, seated beside him, told me those who think the travel ban is about security were “misguided”.

“I think you fear what you don’t understand,” he said.

When I asked what the administration doesn’t understand, he replied: “Other cultures.”