Trump Secretly Admits Hurt Feelings Over Elon Musk Fallout

General10 sourcesAug 14, 2026

9 placedFactual rigor 50/100

The Story

President Donald Trump has privately admitted he was hurt by Elon Musk after their nuclear fallout.

The two men had a tight relationship when Trump tapped the centibillionaire to oversee DOGE, an ultimately ill-fated attempt to cull government spending. Their relationship deteriorated shortly thereafter. SpaceX's Starbase, near Brownsville, Texas, is seeing both lovers and haters erecting monuments for Elon Musk. The surrounding area became incorporated as the City of Starbase in 2025.

Billionaire Michael Saylor disputes Elon Musk's prediction that AI will make money irrelevant, stating that people will always compete for scarce, status-conferring goods. Google owner made $100bn from an early bet on Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

What they agree on

President Donald Trump has privately admitted his feelings were hurt by Elon Musk following a "nuclear fallout" between them.
Trump and Musk previously had a close relationship, with Trump tapping Musk to oversee DOGE, an initiative to cull government spending.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration has greenlit Elon Musk’s plans to build a banking system into X.
Cards Against Humanity is crowdfunding to build a monument to Elon Musk near Starbase, Texas, with the intention of annoying him.
Billionaire Michael Saylor disputes Elon Musk's prediction that AI will make money irrelevant.

Where they split

The Daily Beast focuses on Trump's "secret" admission of hurt feelings, making it the central theme of its report.
The Lever exclusively reports on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration greenlighting Elon Musk’s banking ambitions for X, a detail not found in other articles.
Independent outlets like Cards Against Humanity and The Verge highlight the crowdfunding effort to build an "annoying" monument to Elon Musk, providing a more satirical or critical perspective on Musk.
The Times reports on Google owner making $100bn from an early bet on SpaceX, focusing on Musk's business success, which is a different emphasis from the personal or political narratives.