Gov. Newsom reacts to public feud between between Musk, Trump – KCRA
California Gov. Gavin Newsom reacted on Thursday to the fiery feud between President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, two people who were once side-by-side in the Oval Office, now apparently turned bitter toward each other.
( Video player above: Trump threatens to fine California over trans athlete’s participation in girls’ sports)
“I hope all of you who are so consumed by personalities — who’s up, who’s down … what Elon Musk tweeted today what Trump says tomorrow … can focus on what matters,” Newsom said during a news conference regarding student literacy in the state.
His comment is in response to the fallout between the two over President Donald Trump’s agenda bill — which the president is pressuring GOP senators to support — with Musk calling it a “disgusting abomination” on Tuesday.
The spectacular flameout hit a crescendo Thursday when Trump threatened to cut Musk’s government contracts and Musk said, without providing evidence, that Trump’s administration hasn’t released all the records related to sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them.
The messy blow-up between the president of the United States and the world’s richest man played out on their respective social media platforms after Trump was asked during a White House meeting with Germany’s new leader about Musk’s criticism of his spending bill.
It came less than a week after they appeared together at the White House for a subdued goodbye and Trump thanked Musk for his brief time in the U.S. government by handing him a symbolic but nonfunctional golden key.
Trump had largely remained silent as Musk stewed over the last few days on his social media platform X, condemning the president’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.” But Trump clapped back Thursday in the Oval Office, saying he was “very disappointed in Musk.”
Musk responded on social media in real time. Trump, who was supposed to be spending Thursday discussing an end to the Russia-Ukraine war with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, ratcheted up the stakes when he turned to his own social media network, Truth Social, and threatened to use the U.S. government to hurt Musk’s bottom line by going after contracts held by his internet company Starlink and rocket company SpaceX.
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump wrote on his social media network.
“This just gets better and better,” Musk quickly replied on X. “Go ahead, make my day.”
Musk then said, without offering evidence of how he might know the information, that Trump was “in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
The insinuation tapped into long-standing suspicions among conspiracy theorists and online sleuths that incriminating and sensitive files in the government’s possession have yet to be released.
KCRA 3’s Jonathan Ayestas contributed to this report.
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