Many individuals thought that the shut relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk would end badly, since they each have the hubris that comes from success and energy. One is arguably probably the most highly effective politician on the earth and the opposite the richest man.
That mentioned, most individuals weren’t ready for the speedy breakdown of their relationship and the slanging match that occurred after Musk spectacularly fell out with the US president. This was magnified by the truth that each have their very own influential social media websites (X and Fact Social) and so the divorce was very, very public.
Extra not too long ago Musk has rowed again on the feedback he made about Trump after leaving his position as a “special government employee” of the administration, and says he went “too far”. However Trump may need an extended reminiscence for grievances, so it stays to be seen if the connection might be patched up.
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What do the American folks assume? The chart under exhibits the proportion of respondents with beneficial and unfavourable opinions of Trump and Musk in the latest US Economist/YouGov poll accomplished on June 9 after the row blew up.
It’s clear that the most individuals assume that Trump received the competition, giving him a favourability hole (% beneficial minus % unfavourable) of minus 10% in contrast with Musk’s gap of minus 23%.
What People consider Trump and Musk after their row:
Creator’s graph primarily based on Economist polling., CC BY-SA
The demographics of those favourability judgements are significantly attention-grabbing. After the row, round 49% of males thought favourably of Trump, in contrast with 38% of ladies, persevering with a development that exhibits extra male than feminine assist for the president. However the gender hole for Musk is even wider with 43% males and solely 27% girls having a beneficial view of the billionaire, making the hole 11% for Trump and 16% for Musk.
One other attention-grabbing demographic is age. Some 35% of 18-to-29 12 months olds favour Trump (the bottom variety of any age group), in contrast with 30% who favour Musk. The equal figures for the over 65s are 45% favouring Trump and 37% Musk. The age divide is large, with younger People disliking each greater than older People, however it isn’t as large because the gender hole.
The earnings figures and attitudes to each are shocking. A complete of 38% of these with incomes lower than US$50,000 (£36,700) a 12 months favour Trump, in contrast with 51% of these with incomes between US$50,000 and US$100,000. The shock is that solely 42% of these with incomes higher than US$100,000 favour Trump, making prosperous People nearer to the low-income group than to the middle-income group in attitudes to the president.
The equal figures for Musk are 32% beneficial within the US$50,000 group, 39% within the US$50,000 to US$100,000 group and 36% within the US$100,000+ group, which supplies an analogous image.
If we have a look at the voting report of the survey respondents within the presidential elections final 12 months, 86% of Trump voters nonetheless have a beneficial view of him, in contrast with solely 5% of Harris voters. Compared 67% of Republican voters are beneficial to Musk, in contrast with 10% of Democrats. Equally, 81% of Conservatives favour Trump in contrast with 67% who favour Musk.
Wanting on the total image Musk is the loser within the row so far as the American public are involved, and this may increasingly partly clarify his obvious contrition.
The value of Tesla shares (US$) for the reason that presidential election:
Creator’s graph primarily based on knowledge from Yahoo finance., CC BY
Total although, Trump has been progressively dropping assist on his job approval for the reason that election and the polling exhibits that 43% of respondents approve and 52% disapprove of his efficiency as president.
We don’t have equal figures for Musk, but when we take the inventory market worth of Tesla shares as a information to his approval scores this has declined quickly over time because the chart exhibits. On December 17 last year the worth was US$480 (£353) per share, in contrast with US$332 per share on June 11 2025. This represents a fall of about 30%. The dramatic dip on the finish of the sequence is an indicator of how markets have reacted to the spat between them.
Following his public break-up with Trump, Musk’s different main firm, Area X, can also be more likely to face fallout. It’s a personal firm and so doesn’t have a share worth, however it’s closely depending on contracts from the US authorities to maintain going. It appears seemingly that the stream of contracts for area tasks is more likely to dry up following the row with Trump, because the president has suggested.
Total, Musk has paid a heavy worth for changing into such a visual Trump supporter and subsequently falling out with him. And, to date, the general public seems to be on Trump’s aspect.
