Behind the Scenes, Elon Musk Is Reportedly Seething About Donald Trump
As ABC reported today, now that he's been summarily retired from the White House, the billionaire SpaceX boss has been privately venting his frustrations at Trump. One particularly stinging betrayal, per the network's reporting: Trump's sudden withdrawal of Musk's buddy and financial benefactor, Jared Isaacman, from consideration to be the next NASA administrator.
As the day progressed, Musk's tension with Trump exploded into public view as history's richest man tweeted or amplified no less than 25 posts blasting Trump's "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill, which takes the form of yet another piece of legislation meant to gut assistance for the poorest Americans while siphoning money to the ultra-wealthy.
However, that isn't Musk's issue with the package. Instead, his commentary is centered on the bill's impact on the US national deficit — something he tried and failed to curb in any meaningful way during his time as a pay-to-play government operative.
On X-formerly-Twitter, Musk's frenzied posts range from Rand Paul interview clips to hysterical conspiracy peddling. ("America is in the fast lane to debt slavery," he fomented at one point.)
"Call your Senator, call your Congressman, bankrupting America is NOT ok!" Musk urged his 220 million followers on X-formerly-Twitter. "KILL the BILL."
The tech titan also went out of his way to amplify some low-res footage of Warren Buffett explaining his theoretical plan to reduce the deficit. "Anytime there's a deficit of more than 3 percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for reelection," the investor suggested, to which Musk replied that "this is the way."
Needless to say, a month ago — or even a week — this type of assault on Trump by Musk would have been unthinkable. The bill is also a baffling hill for the tech mogul to die on, especially considering that government spending is what made his tech dynasty possible in the first place.
It's more plausible, as Axios notes, that national debt is a smokescreen for other issues nearer to Musk's heart. Most notably, the big beautiful bill is set to cut the electric vehicle tax credits that made Tesla the automotive giant it is today. (Confusingly, as recently as last year, Musk was publicly calling for an end to the tax credit — but that was before his activities in the White House eviscerated Tesla's brand image and sent it deeply into the red.)
Of course, that raises another intriguing possibility: that at least some portion of Musk's rage at Trump is essentially kayfabe, with Musk betting that a break from the president could resuscitate at least some enthusiasm for the Tesla brand among the left-leaning customers that he's successfully turned off over the past year.
If so, it's not hard to imagine Musk instead accidentally alienating more or less everybody — failing to get the environmental left back on board, but also creating a powerful enemy with Trump, who holds immense power over the government contracts and policy that keep Musk's business empire afloat.
More on politics: Elon Musk's Dad Slams His Son's Whimpering Failure at Politics
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And while the spat between Trump and Powell — who was named Fed chair by Trump during his first term in office — has now spanned multiple administrations, some on Wall Street also see Trump's desire to cut Powell as coming back to aiding his key economic agenda: tariffs. "There is method to President Donald Trump's madness regarding Fed Chair Jerome Powell," Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research wrote in a note to clients on July 1. "Trump has been hammering Powell almost daily recently because doing so is very effectively hammering the foreign-exchange value of the dollar. Trump wants a weaker dollar to boost US exports and depress US imports. He has said that he favored a weaker dollar many times in the past, but now he has found a way to achieve that: by beating up on Powell." As for whether Trump will be able to fire Powell, the Supreme Court in May issued a ruling that walled off the Federal Reserve from other independent agencies that had their leaders removed by Trump. Stocks sink as Trump moves to fire Powell President Trump asked Republican members of the House of Representatives if he should fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell in the Oval Office on Tuesday night, CBS News reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. The New York Times reported that Trump had showed off a draft of a letter firing Powell during the meeting. The Republican representatives voiced approval for such a move, CBS reported. Shortly after the CBS report, Bloomberg reported that Trump is likely to fire Powell soon, citing a White House official. All three major indexes fell after the news to touch lows for the day. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.45%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped nearly 0.6%. The US Dollar DXY ( fell roughly 0.9% following the news. Meanwhile, bets on Fed rate cuts rose from earlier in the day after weaker-than-expected inflation data out earlier Wednesday morning. As of late Wednesday morning, traders saw a more than 70% chance of the Fed cutting rates in September, versus roughly 56% earlier in the day, according to CME Group. President Trump asked Republican members of the House of Representatives if he should fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell in the Oval Office on Tuesday night, CBS News reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. The New York Times reported that Trump had showed off a draft of a letter firing Powell during the meeting. The Republican representatives voiced approval for such a move, CBS reported. Shortly after the CBS report, Bloomberg reported that Trump is likely to fire Powell soon, citing a White House official. All three major indexes fell after the news to touch lows for the day. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.45%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped nearly 0.6%. The US Dollar DXY ( fell roughly 0.9% following the news. Meanwhile, bets on Fed rate cuts rose from earlier in the day after weaker-than-expected inflation data out earlier Wednesday morning. As of late Wednesday morning, traders saw a more than 70% chance of the Fed cutting rates in September, versus roughly 56% earlier in the day, according to CME Group. Expectations for Fed rate cuts in September are falling Investor speculation that the Fed will hold rates steady not just this month but also in September is growing. According to the CME Group, traders are pricing in a 44% chance that the Fed will not cut rates in September, up from 30% last week. Investors see a more than 54% probability of a 25 basis point cut in September, down from roughly 66% last week. And traders are betting that there's a slim 1.4% chance that the central bank will cut rates by 50 basis points, down from 4.2% last week. Investor speculation that the Fed will hold rates steady not just this month but also in September is growing. According to the CME Group, traders are pricing in a 44% chance that the Fed will not cut rates in September, up from 30% last week. Investors see a more than 54% probability of a 25 basis point cut in September, down from roughly 66% last week. And traders are betting that there's a slim 1.4% chance that the central bank will cut rates by 50 basis points, down from 4.2% last week. Johnson & Johnson stock climbs after earnings beat Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) stock climbed nearly 5% Wednesday after the drugmaker's latest earnings results topped expectations and the company raised its financial outlook for the year. The pharma giant reported revenues of $23.7 billion, higher than the $22.8 billion expected by Wall Street analysts. Earnings per share came in at $2.77, compared to the $2.66 projected, Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani reports. The company also raised its revenue guidance for the year to a range between $93.2 billion and $93.6 billion, up from its prior range of $91 billion to $91.8 billion. J&J lifted full-year earnings per share guidance by $0.25 to $10.85. Khemlani writes: Read more about J&J's latest earnings results here. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) stock climbed nearly 5% Wednesday after the drugmaker's latest earnings results topped expectations and the company raised its financial outlook for the year. The pharma giant reported revenues of $23.7 billion, higher than the $22.8 billion expected by Wall Street analysts. Earnings per share came in at $2.77, compared to the $2.66 projected, Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani reports. The company also raised its revenue guidance for the year to a range between $93.2 billion and $93.6 billion, up from its prior range of $91 billion to $91.8 billion. J&J lifted full-year earnings per share guidance by $0.25 to $10.85. Khemlani writes: Read more about J&J's latest earnings results here. US stocks edge up at the open US stocks inched higher Wednesday morning as investors digested another round of corporate earnings results and a wholesale inflation checkup. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.3% after shedding over 400 points on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up nearly 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was just above the flat line after notching a fresh record Tuesday as AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) hit a new high. Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bank of America (BAC), and Goldman Sachs (GS) rose after reporting solid earnings results, while Morgan Stanley (MS) stock fell despite the bank's own earnings report topping Wall Street's projections. US stocks inched higher Wednesday morning as investors digested another round of corporate earnings results and a wholesale inflation checkup. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.3% after shedding over 400 points on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up nearly 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was just above the flat line after notching a fresh record Tuesday as AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) hit a new high. Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bank of America (BAC), and Goldman Sachs (GS) rose after reporting solid earnings results, while Morgan Stanley (MS) stock fell despite the bank's own earnings report topping Wall Street's projections. Trending tickers: J&J, ASML, Goldman Sachs, SharpLink Gaming Here's a look a the top trending tickers in premarket trading as earnings season kicks off: Read more live coverage of earnings season here. Here's a look a the top trending tickers in premarket trading as earnings season kicks off: Read more live coverage of earnings season here. Wholesale prices increase less than expected in June Wholesale prices rose less than expected in June. Wednesday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that its producer price index (PPI) — which tracks the price changes companies see — rose 2.3% from the year prior, below the 2.7% seen in May and lower than the 2.5% increase economists had projected. On a monthly basis, prices were flat. Economists had expected 0.2% increase. Excluding food and energy, "core" prices rose 2.6% year over year, below the 3.2% gain seen in May. Economists had expected an increase of 2.7%. Meanwhile, month-over-month core prices were flat below the 0.2% increase economists had expected and the 0.3% gain seen last month. The report follows Tuesday's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which showed core price increases accelerated to 2.9% in June. Wholesale prices rose less than expected in June. Wednesday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that its producer price index (PPI) — which tracks the price changes companies see — rose 2.3% from the year prior, below the 2.7% seen in May and lower than the 2.5% increase economists had projected. On a monthly basis, prices were flat. Economists had expected 0.2% increase. Excluding food and energy, "core" prices rose 2.6% year over year, below the 3.2% gain seen in May. Economists had expected an increase of 2.7%. Meanwhile, month-over-month core prices were flat below the 0.2% increase economists had expected and the 0.3% gain seen last month. The report follows Tuesday's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which showed core price increases accelerated to 2.9% in June. Goldman stock gains as trading and dealmaking boosts profits Shares of Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Citigroup (C) were moving higher in premarket trading on Wednesday after the Wall Street firms reported higher dealmaking and trading revenue this week to kick off earnings season. Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith reports: Read more here. Shares of Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Citigroup (C) were moving higher in premarket trading on Wednesday after the Wall Street firms reported higher dealmaking and trading revenue this week to kick off earnings season. Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith reports: Read more here. Markets are now ho-hum about tariff threats. Trump and Wall Street disagree about why. Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul reports: Read more here. Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul reports: Read more here. Chip linchpin ASML warns on 2026 growth amid tariff headwinds ASML (ASML, shares slumped almost 8% in premarket trading after the chip industry linchpin said it may not achieve growth in 2026. The warning came even as the world's biggest supplier of chipmaking gear's second quarter bookings topped Wall Street estimates on Wednesday. Reuters reported: Read more here. ASML (ASML, shares slumped almost 8% in premarket trading after the chip industry linchpin said it may not achieve growth in 2026. The warning came even as the world's biggest supplier of chipmaking gear's second quarter bookings topped Wall Street estimates on Wednesday. Reuters reported: Read more here. Gold rises as trade war fears bolster haven asset Gold (GC=F) rose overnight Tuesday as a wave of tariff updates did little to appease flighty investors looking for safe investments. With multiple rocky trade deals on the table, markets have pushed back into the valuable metal which has risen by over 25% this year so far. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Gold (GC=F) rose overnight Tuesday as a wave of tariff updates did little to appease flighty investors looking for safe investments. With multiple rocky trade deals on the table, markets have pushed back into the valuable metal which has risen by over 25% this year so far. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Trump order to open up private investment to retirement plans. President Trump is in the process of signing an executive order that will allow retirement plan providers to invest more heavily in private assets, according to those familiar with the matter. The order should take place within the next few days and will open up retirement plans to riskier investments. Reuters reports: Read more here. President Trump is in the process of signing an executive order that will allow retirement plan providers to invest more heavily in private assets, according to those familiar with the matter. The order should take place within the next few days and will open up retirement plans to riskier investments. Reuters reports: Read more here. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
