Trump just lost $200M — because of Musk
Forbes reports Elon Musk isn’t the only one suffering financially from his recent blow-up with President Donald Trump. Trump, too, is suffering. The stock price of Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), which trades on Nasdaq under the DJT ticker, dropped by 8.04% on Thursday to $20.12.
This appears to connect directly to the couple’s media-soaked spat, according to Forbes. The social media company’s shares started the day slightly in the red, but fell steeply in afternoon trading as Musk alleged, without evidence, that Trump’s name was on the “Epstein files.” He also supported calls for Trump’s impeachment on X.
Trump used his own Truth Social platform to lob attacks, threatening to unilaterally “terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” but at the height of the spat, DownDetector recorded Trump’s TMTG-owned platform being inaccessible to some users, according to Forbes. At one point Trump’s personal feed appeared blank with the message “No Truths.
Trump’s net worth dropped about $202 million early on Friday amid Thursday’s selloff, while Tesla shares fell more than 14 percent on Thursday amid the clash. Forbes reports Tesla’s stock ended the day at $284.70 after Trump threatened to terminate “Governmental Subsidies and Contracts” grant to Musk’s companies. Forbes reports the resulting Tesla selloff slashed around $26.6 billion from Musk’s net worth.
Additionally, before the end of the day, Musk buttressed critics’ arguments against NASA privatization by threatening to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which NASA uses to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.
Friday morning, Politico reported White House aides quietly working to persuade Trump to “temper his public criticism of Musk” and allegedly scheduling calls with the billionaire.
The battle began between the two billionaires over disagreement about Trump’s budget bill proposal, which the Congressional Budget Office warns will balloon the nation’s debt nearly $3 trillion due to unfunded tax cuts.
Read the full Forbes report at this link.