The Sneaky Way Biden May Be To Blame For Trump & Musk's Big Beautiful, Breakup

With the sparks still spewing from the contentious fallout between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, getting to the heart of what started it all has had more layers than initially realized. After Musk left his unofficial capacity at the White House at the end of May 2025, he felt emboldened to speak his mind about a few things — one of which was Trump's upcoming fiscal bill winding its way through the red tape. When Musk put Trump on blast over his "big, beautiful bill" it launched a series of events that ended with the two going toe to toe on their respective social media platforms. However, what the Tesla CEO was nitpicking within the bill might have more to do with former President Joe Biden than first met the eye.

On Musk's platform, X, Tesla Energy's account made a post that pointed out how "Abruptly ending the energy tax credits would threaten America's energy independence." This was in direct response to how the bill would cut clean energy tax credits, including those for electric vehicles. According to Politico, much of what's within the current version of the bill suggests stripping residential solar credits as well as rejecting nearly all investment credits for clean energy — something that's been vital to Musk's Tesla Energy.

What's interesting about these specific incentives is that they're part of the Inflation Reduction Act that Biden had signed into law in 2022, making Biden a bigger culprit in the unfolding saga than initially thought.

While Elon Musk has hinted as to the reasons why his bromance with Donald Trump ended, it seems Trump's relentless desire to strip away Joe Biden's legacy played a major role. Trump has let it slip that Biden still takes up a lot of his mental space, made evident by Trump's thoughtful nicknames for the previous president. So, Trump's doubling down on removing nearly every part of Biden's Inflation Reduction Act to make way for his own personal version of economics is making more waves than possibly intended.

With Trump's spending bill calling to remove incentives for purchasing electric vehicles, JP Morgan released a statement claiming Tesla could potentially lose over $1 billion annually should the bill go through (via CNN). Although, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to Musk, since Trump paused funding for nearly every part of the Inflation Reduction Act as soon as he entered office, according to Time. With his sights set on eradicating any aspect of the former administration, Trump has been gleefully gutting as much as he can — often with the help of Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.

Even though Musk spent millions to help get Trump elected, it apparently was not enough to save the friendship. Trump's ego and determination to squash Biden, the only candidate to ever beat him out for the presidency, clearly meant more to him than preserving his odd relationship with Musk.