The Bulwark's top editor, Jonathan V. Last, talked about YouTube, cable TV, and so-called "Trump Derangement Syndrome."
The Bulwark
The Bulwark, a news website that's fiercely critical of President Donald Trump, has grown rapidly.
Since the 2024 election, The Bulwark has roughly doubled its paid subscriber base.
Top editor Jonathan V. Last told Business Insider how they've grown, and what's ahead.
If President Donald Trump didn't exist, the staunchly anti-Trump news website The Bulwark might not either.
But the president isn't solely responsible for The Bulwark's success. Instead, its top editor credits email newsletters, podcasts, and YouTube for its impressive growth in recent years.
"We grew consistently, all the way through the Biden administration," Jonathan V. Last, editor of The Bulwark, said in an interview with Business Insider. "That's something I didn't expect."
To be sure, Trump's resurgence has added fuel to the fire that Last and his colleagues were kindling. The Bulwark surpassed 100,000 paid subscribers on Substack in early July, which the company told BI is more than double its total in late October — just before the 2024 election.
The Bulwark also now has 830,000 total subscribers, most of whom get its emails for free. The company said its total count has tripled in the last year and surpassed 500,000 a day after Trump retook office.
YouTube is another key part of The Bulwark's growth. It crossed 1 million subscribers on the platform in mid-February, and that count rose 34% between then and early July, thanks to a healthy mix of short-form snippets and long-form videos.
The news site uses YouTube Shorts, the platform's buzzy, TikTok-esque clips, as a foot in the door for newcomers. But long-form content of all kinds is crushing on YouTube, especially on TVs. The Bulwark's producers have taken note by making most of their videos at least 10 minutes long, and some run well over an hour.
"We no longer think of podcast and video as separate," Last said. "We just think of it all as broadcast."
The Bulwark was perfectly positioned for one of the wildest decades for news in the last century, complete with a pandemic, wars, and Trump's rise, fall, and rebound.
"It's been a crazy eight years," Last said. "People have been forced to pay attention to the news in ways which are reasonably unique, at least in our lifetimes."
Not just 'Never Trump'
The Bulwark has gained much of its notoriety for its sharp criticism of Trump. But when asked who he's writing for, Last said he's not necessarily targeting a certain political group.
"The target audience is people who take ideas seriously and aren't looking for confirmation bias and who think that the moment is important," Last said. He added: "I think of, honestly, our target audience as being indistinguishable from The Atlantic's."
While Last said many Bulwark readers are largely on the center left to the center right, he added that the main common thread among his reader base is a distaste for authoritarianism. To Last, that's synonymous with an unease, or outright disgust, with Trump and many of his policies.
"We're on a team, and the team is democracy," Last said.
However, Last said The Bulwark doesn't have a vendetta against Trump. If the president enacts policies that Last and his colleagues like — such as Operation Warp Speed, which accelerated COVID-19 vaccine development during the pandemic — he said they'll gladly tout them.
"We are not reflexively negative," Last said. "It's not like if Trump comes out and says that 'ice cream is good,' we have to say, 'ice cream is bad.'"
Still, Last's readers know that he sees Trump as a serious threat to American democracy.
"If I had described the events of 2020 to somebody in 2016, they would've said, 'You're crazy — that's "Trump Derangement Syndrome,"'" Last said.
Critics may shrug off The Bulwark's warnings as alarmist, but Last insists he's not crying wolf.
"The fact that people aren't freaked out by just the actual real things that have happened in front of our eyes is mostly a function of the pot being turned up while the frogs are in it," Last said.
Straightforward and direct
Authenticity sells in 2025, both in politics and media. Just look at the most popular podcasters, including Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper of "Call Her Daddy" fame.
Audiences also crave honesty, Last said. That honesty and authenticity, combined with strongly held convictions, have become cornerstones of The Bulwark's popularity.
"A lot of times, we'll sit around arguing with each other, and the argument will end with one of us going, 'Yeah, you guys are right. I got that wrong,'" Last said.
Unlike traditional media organizations, The Bulwark is built on Substack. The newsletter hub has been a huge part of the news site's rapid growth, Last said, since readers of other writers can discover The Bulwark and subscribe in a single click.
"Anything you can do to lower the friction just pays enormous dividends," Last said.
By building its business around newsletters, The Bulwark reaches readers directly, without intermediaries like search engines or social media.
Newsletters and podcasts can also build emotional connections. The Bulwark's publisher, Sarah Longwell, told Vanity Fair in May that "people feel like they are friends with us" since they hear their voices and can even reach their inboxes by replying to emails. This access makes The Bulwark feel fresher than newspapers or cable news channels, Last said.
"That's the sort of thing that you often get from independent media operators, if you're a one-man band on Substack," Last said. "But it's, I think, not as common to see that at an institutional level."
Putting MSNBC and CNN on notice
Although The Bulwark has roughly doubled its paid reader base since the election, Last sees much more room to grow.
The news site recently hired reporters to cover policy, immigration, and Congress, Last said. This can help The Bulwark add value through reporting, instead of just its opinions.
But the biggest potential for growth is YouTube, Last said, given that its subscriber base can scale far faster on the world's biggest video platform than on Substack.
The Bulwark could take its video strategy to the next level by producing shows in the style of traditional TV, Last said. He said his site is open to partnering with a streaming service, similar to The Daily Beast's deal with Netflix that was reported by Semafor.
MSNBC and CNN have been a go-to spot for the anti-Trump TV news audience for years. Last suggested that The Bulwark is willing to encroach on their territory and beat them at their own game.
"Cable news is dying," Last said. "All of the minutes of attention, which gets sucked up by CNN or Fox or whoever, those minutes are going to flow elsewhere. And I think that we should be a place where that attention goes."
Legacy networks like MSNBC may be able to coexist with new media outfits like The Bulwark, especially since its writers regularly go on the left-leaning cable network.
But regardless of who's pushing back against Trump, Last's hope is that American democracy is healthy. He doesn't want chaos, even if it can help his business, but he knows that's mostly out of his control.
"Given the choice between having half of our audience, but living in a normal time, I would absolutely take that," Last said.
A report says the typical American will have to spend more than 30% of their income to buy a home.
Yuriy T/Getty Images
The average American needs to spend 44.6% of their income to afford a median-priced home.
Only three major metro areas are affordable for median earners without topping 30% of their income.
As homebuying costs outpace salaries, Americans will have to stretch their pockets to buy a home.
Buying a home this year? You'll be spending an even bigger chunk of your paycheck.
Data from Realtor.com shows that the median-priced home in May was $440,000. To afford a home at that price, the company found the typical American household would need to spend 44.6% of its income, far above the 30% that experts generally recommend for housing costs.
(Realtor.com based its income calculation on a scenario in which a buyer purchases a median-priced home ($440,000 as of May) in the US with a 20% down payment, has a 6.82% mortgage rate, based on Freddie Mac's May 2025 average, and has an annual tax and insurance rate of 1.72%.)
That 30% rule, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development suggested starting back in the 1980s, exists for a reason: It ensures households have enough room in their budgets for essential living expenses like groceries, utilities, childcare, and life's inevitable surprises, such as medical bills or car repairs.
"Home prices have leveled off, but remain near historic peaks in much of the country," Hannah Jones, a senior economic research analyst with Realtor.com, told Business Insider. "Mortgage rates have hovered between 6.5% and 7% since last fall. Altogether, this means that for many households, buying a home today would be a stretch financially."
Especially since "home prices have accelerated faster than wages over the last 5-plus years," Jones added.
Many Americans aren't convinced that buying a home is smart
In 2023, the most recent year with available US Census data, median household income rose to $80,610 — the first annual increase since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Census data, the national median home price surged by 33% since the first quarter of 2019.
While home prices have begun to fall in some US cities, many Americans still aren't convinced that buying a home is a smart decision.
In June, Fannie Mae — which backs the majority of mortgages originated in the US — released its monthly housing survey, which polls 1,000 Americans, older than 18, each month on their views about renting, home buying, household finances, and the broader economy. May results showed that 74% said it was a bad time to buy.
You may especially feel that way if you live in coastal cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Boston. These cities already have the reputation of being expensive, but if you're making the median salary or lower, buying a home there will deeply cut into your take-home pay, according to Realtor.com. Data from the company shows that metro areas for those cities require a 104.5%, 66.9%, and 64.3% share of your income, respectively.
As for cities where you can budget more effectively, they're all closer to the middle of the map.
Pittsburgh requires the lowest share of income to afford a home, according to Realtor.com
halbergman/Getty Images
"The Midwest is the most affordable region in the country, and is the only region with large metros where the typical household can afford to buy the typical home," Jones said.
Only three of the top 50 metros made the cut:
In May, the St. Louis metropolitan area's median list price was $299,900, which required only a 30% share of income to afford;
Detroit's metro required a share of 29.8%;
Pittsburgh was the most affordable. It only required a 27.4% share of income.
Heather Torres, the founder of Porch Pumpkins, started the business as a stay-at-home mom.
Heather Torres
Heather Torres first started accessorizing her porch with seasonal decor as a hobby.
After winning a local Best Yard award, the pandemic hit, and she decided to turn it into a business.
Since Porch Pumpkins was born, it has scaled to a six-figure business, and she's franchising.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Heather Torres, the owner of Porch Pumpkins, a Texas-based seasonal decor delivery company. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Shortly after my youngest son was born, I went crazy with pumpkins.
I'd always admired the beautiful seasonal decorations that the Dallas Arboretum displays each year, and when he was little, I decided to start trying my hand at creating pumpkinscapes at home as a way to keep him — and myself — busy.
It wasn't long before I got good at it. Really good at it. I won a local award for Best Yard in 2013 and just kept trying to one-up myself. Eventually, my friends started asking me to create displays at their houses, and I got the idea that maybe people would pay for professional pumpkin displays during the fall season, the way they do for Christmas lights.
The idea stayed in the back of my head for a few years while I was busy as a stay-at-home mom raising my children. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everyone was stuck inside, it felt like the right time to try to make it a small business to earn a little money and use my talents. I decided I could bring the pumpkin patch to you!
I previously worked in the restaurant industry and knew I didn't want to make one-off custom designs. I wanted things to be super simple, so I created four different packages at different price points for customers to choose from.
The most popular package is the smallest display, which costs $325 and includes about 30 pumpkins of varying sizes. Our biggest package is for the true pumpkin lover, and it includes two 50-pound pumpkins, bales of hay, and all kinds of decorative extras for $1,350. We offer delivery and removal services. You can set up your own display, or we can do it for you.
We just celebrated our fifth birthday, and I never could have imagined how things would take off.
It used to be just me and my husband doing deliveries. Then I started hiring other moms I knew to work as part-time display designers and delivery drivers. I hired three people in my first year, and we completed just over 250 displays.
Now, we have over 20 people on our team, and we completely sold out in 2024. My goal was to decorate 1,000 porches, and we ended up doing 1,052.
It has worked out so that, now, I'm busy from August to December, but then I'm pretty much done in the spring and can be fully present to volunteer at my kids' school and do all the things a mom does, like try to cook dinner each night.
Two Porch Pumpkins displays, created by Heather Torres' seasonal pumpkin delivery business.
Heather Torres
This year, it became increasingly evident that people were gravitating toward this business and were really interested in my approach. I get emails all the time asking to pick my brain, so in March, I started coaching other entrepreneurs about how to start their own seasonal pumpkin businesses.
I charge $4,500 for two hourlong sessions teaching you all the lessons I've learned along the way — from sourcing pumpkins to creating the decorative displays — and in just the few months since I launched that service, I've helped 12 people, mostly women, launch their own pumpkin businesses across the US.
We had the foresight to trademark our name and logo, so all the other pumpkin businesses popping up have different names. But we're also beginning to franchise, so soon, there will be official Porch Pumpkins locations across the country.
The whole process has really been a gift for my family. I'm just so excited to see how much we can grow from here.
Do you have a unique side hustle or small business, or has your side hustle replaced your full-time job? Email Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert atktangalakislippert@businessinsider.com.
Robinhood boomed during the pandemic as budding day traders signed up to trade meme stocks.
CEO Vlad Tenev said on a podcast that many have since embraced passive investing.
Tenev described two main types of Robinhood users as "motorheads" and "folks that buy minivans."
The meme-stock craze helped make trading app Robinhood a household name, but its CEO said some users have shifted from YOLO-style bets on SPACs and crypto toward long-term, passive investing.
Passive investing in broad index funds has been in vogue for years and heralded by the likes of Warren Buffett as a way of avoiding the costs and risks of active trading, like transaction fees and picking the wrong stock.
Robinhood became synonymous with speculative day traders during the COVID-19 pandemic, pioneering the commission-free stock-trading model while drawing fire for gamifying investing with digital confetti and other visual cues.
The fintech company "kind of turned back the clock" on the shift toward simply owning the index, its CEO, Vlad Tenev, said. But traders on its platform have warmed to passive investing, he said on an episode of Bloomberg's "Odd Lots" podcast released this week.
"A lot of people trade more actively at first and then eventually end up doing more passive investing — mostly because they don't want to put in the time, they have other things to do, so they prefer all of their investments to be hands-off," he said.
'Motorheads' and minivan buyers
While some traders on the platform are active traders with the latest tech, others are casual retirement savers, Tenev added.
He likened the first group to "motorheads" who care about performance, high speeds, and harnessing the latest tech. "These are the folks that are strapped into their battle stations, and they have nine screens," he joked, adding that some are "incredibly sophisticated and wealthy, and they even have Bloomberg terminals."
The other group is "the mass market" and consists of "folks that buy minivans," he said. "They want a relatively hands-free and low-friction way of investing and saving for the long term, and we have products that serve both of those," he added.
Tenev pointed to the growth of Robinhood users using products such as retirement accounts. Robinhood's assets under custody in traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and Roth IRAs soared by about 600% last year to over $13 billion, according to its latest full-year earnings.
On a February earnings call, Tenev said people were now "comfortable moving in hundreds of thousands of dollars into Robinhood."
Robinhood's net revenue grew by 58% last year to nearly $3 billion, helping it swing from a pre-tax loss of about $500 million in 2023 to a nearly $1.1 billion profit in 2024. The improving financials have fueled a roughly four-fold rise in Robinhood's stock price over the past 12 months, lifting its market value to north of $80 billion.
Bullish retail investors and new products have also helped drive the rise. Robinhood's stock spiked earlier this week after it announced it was rolling out tokenized investing in Europe.
Andrea Javor sometimes regrets selling her condo in Chicago.
Photo credit: Lisa Kay Creative Photography
I bought a Condo in downtown Chicago in 2018 and sold it in 2020.
Today, it's valued at $188,000 more than I paid. I couldn't buy it again even if I wanted to.
When I read about soaring home values, I can't help but think about the equity I walked away from.
After seven months on the market, my once-perfect suburban home had a new family.
I pictured them filled with hope, just as I had been. With the moving truck loaded, I burned sage in every corner of the empty house, wishing them the fortune I'd missed with my ex and his three kids.
That same day, in the fall of 2018, I headed to downtown Chicago to unload in my new condo.
I planned to build a new life for decades to come in an idyllic two-bedroom, two-bathroom walk-up on the tree-lined street.
I perched my desk in the bay window, overlooking Chestnut Street, adjacent to the perfect bookshelf with floor-to-ceiling storage space and an attached ladder.
I couldn't imagine anything would ever take me away.
A series of unlucky events pulled me away
Then, 16 months later, in February of 2020, my cat died unexpectedly at only 9 years old from advanced kidney disease. Two weeks later, I was laid off from my job for the first time in my life.
In another few weeks, suddenly the world was talking about the coronavirus, and I was stuck with a mortgage without promising prospects of a new job.
Further complicating my life, my boyfriend and I accidentally got pregnant. I was 40 years old and had been told during decades of fertility treatments with both of my ex-husbands that I didn't ovulate and would never get pregnant.
Javor wants to purchase property, but it's harder for her now than in 2018.
Courtesy of Andrea Javor
Despite the surprise, we were elated at the prospect of welcoming a healthy baby into the world. So, when I lost the pregnancy eight weeks later, I fell into a deep depression.
I had no job, no pet, no baby.
Even though I enjoyed a sub-3% mortgage and had bought at a good price, I was paying over $11,000 annually in property taxes on top of my mortgage and a monthly HOA of $550 for a building with very few amenities.
My boyfriend and I amicably split, so I was on my own. I ultimately decided I needed to downsize so I could pause and figure out what to do next in life.
I rented a place in Bridgeport
I listed the unit in the summer of 2020. It sold quickly, and I happily broke even on the sale.
I moved to a new neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Bridgeport, renting a small but renovated unit with 1,000 square feet.
Chicago skyline.
gary718/Getty Images
Although my square footage was cut in half compared to my condo, so were my monthly expenses, so I figured it was a fair trade.
I've moved a couple of times over the last five years and have continued to rent. I'm ready to buy again, but it's become significantly harder with higher interest rates and sparse inventory in Chicago.
I've made two offers on condos in downtown Chicago in the past 90 days, both over asking price, and was outbid. I am full of regrets for leaving my condo and having no home equity.
Now, with inflation and interest rates hovering near 7%, I couldn't even afford the same condo I left if I wanted to. The current estimated value is $193,000 more than I paid for it in 2018.
I gambled and lost
Every time I see headlines about soaring home values, I can't help but think about the equity I willingly walked away from.
My decision to sell under duress during a turbulent time in my life has locked me out of a booming market.
I often wonder what life would be like if I held onto that beautiful Chestnut Street condo, enjoying the security of a fixed-rate mortgage and the appreciation of a valuable asset.
Instead, I'm now navigating a competitive market with dwindling hope, trying to reclaim a piece of the stability I let slip away.
When financial planner Eric Roberge and his wife decided to have a child, they assessed their finances and future retirement plans.
Smitten With Bliss/Smitten With Bliss
Eric Roberge and his wife, both financial planners, reversed their decision to be child-free.
Before doing so, they adapted their financial plan to emphasize flexibility and savings.
The couple also kept lifestyle inflation to a minimum and ignored traditional FIRE-style goals.
For many years, my wife and I opted to be child-free. I could see myself having kids, but also felt at peace with the idea of not having children at all. My wife was more firmly in the "no thanks" camp when she was in her 20s.
Then, we both changed our minds.
It wasn't any one particular event or conversation, but more of the cumulative effect that I think many people experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic: 2020 put things in a different perspective.
It created a pause in our normal day-to-day lives that gave us a chance to reflect and think about what truly mattered to us: close relationships, being part of a community, and doing meaningful work, whether that work was in our business or beyond it, such as caring for others.
That led us to agree that we did want to have children after all. Being financial advisors, we knew that such a left turn in life would require us to review and reconsider the financial planning we had done to date.
We felt good about reversing our stance on our family structure precisely because of the financial planning philosophy we use, for ourselves and in my work for clients as a personal financial advisor: You don't know what will change in life, but you can know with near certainty that something will change. You have to make financial decisions and plans that account for that reality.
We made our financial plan highly adaptable so that it was easy to shift once we realized we wanted to grow our family. These 5 steps were critical to our success.
1. We made a habit of saving more than we "had to" or "should"
We spent a decade saving between 30 to 40 percent of our income because we prioritized future flexibility. We also knew how powerful "frontloading" our savings could be.
To reap the biggest benefits from the power of compounding returns on investments, you need to stay invested for a very long time period. And the earlier you start, the more you can benefit from the compounding effect.
Eric Roberge is a financial advisor.
Courtesy of Eric Roberge
We save less now, partly because we have all kinds of expenses we did not have before adding a child to the family — school tuition, a third airplane seat on trips, endless stuffed animal acquisition, and so on.
But "saving less" does not mean abandoning the savings habit altogether. We now save about 25% of our income annually. While it's less than before, it's still higher than average, though it feels like an easy target to meet after sustaining higher savings rates for so long. It's also sufficient to meet our biggest current financial goal of retiring in our 50s.
2. We avoided major fixed costs or hard-to-reverse decisions
While we were child-free we opted out of the biggest fixed cost most people put into their budgets: buying a house.
Without definitive clarity on what the future might look like, we prioritized the flexibility and ease of renting even when everyone around us was buying homes. We reasoned that we should take advantage of the fact we had no external force tying us to a specific location.
Homebuying is a specific example, but we tried to use this frame of thinking more generally to help us avoid very large fixed costs or decisions that were hard to undo. If a choice in the moment would narrow our options for tomorrow, we tended to view it as a sub-optimal choice and sought other alternatives.
3. We kept lifestyle inflation to a minimum along the way
Even as our income grew, we rarely increased our spending. This allowed us to create a larger and larger gap between what we earned and what we spent — giving us a surplus we could save and invest.
Before adding a new recurring expense, we asked ourselves if it aligned with our values or provided benefits like giving us the ability to buy back our time. If not, we didn't allow that line item to add to our budget.
When we did eventually buy a house, we looked at homes that were significantly less expensive than what a lender would call affordable to ensure we didn't max out our budget.
4. We said no to traditional FIRE-style retirement goals
Instead of trying to get out of the workforce on the slimmest investment portfolio possible, as some FIRE strategies that were extremely popular in the 2010s aimed to do, we worked to:
create work we loved and didn't want to run away from
Doing so allowed us to harness our increasing cash flow power for present-day purchases and more contributions to growth assets in our investment portfolio.
5. We pivoted when the situation called for it
What works today might not work in the future if things change — and that's okay. Being willing to change is a huge asset.
When we had our daughter in 2021, we chose to save a little less so that we could spend a little more on her as well as things as a family. We did this knowing that a higher level of spending introduced a bit more long-term risk into our plan, due to taking our foot off the gas in terms of contributions to long-term investments.
At the end of the day, the only constant is change — whether from external forces you can't control or from the choices you willingly make with full agency.
The more willing you are to adapt to the situation at hand, the more likely you'll be to continue on a track for success.
By being proactive, accounting for unpredictability, and having contingency plans in place, you'll better position yourself (and your money) for whatever life throws at you — without having to give up long-term goals you're working hard to achieve.
I thought living alone was the pinnacle of freedom, but getting a roommate is one of the best choices I made in my 30s.
Ivana Robinson
For most of my life, I loved living alone and prioritized having my own space over everything else.
In my 30s, my best friend convinced me to move in with her. I was surprised by how much I like it.
It changed my perspective on living alone and I love splitting bills and household responsibilities.
As the youngest child and only girl in my family, I rarely had to share anything — not my toys, not my clothes, and definitely not my room.
That early autonomy shaped my idea of what defined a perfect living situation: I love being able to move through my space however I want without compromise.
Over the years, I prioritized living alone and thankfully escaped college without any roommate horror stories.
When I moved to Mexico City at 30, I continued this independent lifestyle until one day, my best friend here, Adalia, floated the idea of living together.
Amid a rising cost of living, she said, it'd be nice to split bills with someone. Plus, we already spent so much time together — this arrangement could make leaning on each other that much simpler.
Since I work remotely, I also felt isolated at times and could go days without interacting with another human in real life. Spending more time with my friend didn't sound so bad.
Eventually, I agreed — and, so far, it's been pretty great.
I was worried about sharing my space, but it's been surprisingly comforting
Living alone was blissful — but at times, it could be isolating.
Ivana Robinson
I thought having a roommate in my 30s, even one I love dearly, might feel suffocating. I like the freedom of having my own space, and I was worried our differences could be a recipe for disaster.
She's up at sunrise, but I come alive after dark. We approach tasks in very different ways and are 16 years apart in age.
However, we fell into a groove pretty naturally because we communicate well and often.
Turns out, 34-year-old me knows how to speak up for herself, how to listen, and how not to take things personally way better than I did at 19.
Beyond splitting expenses, one of the biggest benefits of living together is the simple relief of not having to do everything around the house myself.
From taking out the trash to managing bills to restocking toilet paper, Adalia and I share the household responsibilities. Some weeks it's an even split, and other times one of us steps up a little more, depending on what life's throwing our way.
When I caught COVID-19, I tried to pull my weight by doing the dishes. Adalia practically snatched the sponge out of my hand and demanded I rest. I got to return the favor when she was hit with food poisoning a few weeks later.
Having a roommate also means having a built-in emergency-response partner through earthquakes and other disasters. Now, there's a strange comfort in knowing that if our building starts shaking, I've got someone to yell, "Grab the go bag!"
It turns out getting a roommate in your 30s doesn't have to feel like a step back
Having a roommate who's also a friend is great.
Ivana Robinson
What's been most surprising isn't that we can live together well — it's how much I actually enjoy having a roommate.
Some days we're like ships passing in the night. Others, we spend hours doubled over in laughter on our couch.
We just passed the one-year mark of living together, and I can certainly say that this arrangement has made my life more joyful and sustainable. I'm no longer navigating this city, its earthquakes, or even my to-do list by myself.
I used to think living alone was the pinnacle of freedom, but this kind of shared life has expanded my perspective.
Living alone taught me how to take care of myself, but sharing a home with my best friend taught me how to share the mental load of living and let someone else take care of me, too.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have had their ups and downs over the years.
(Photo/Alex Brandon)
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have had a tumultuous relationship over the years.
While the two traded barbs during Trump's first presidency, they've become political allies.
Musk officially joined the administration, but recently criticized Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have had something of an on-again-off-again relationship over the years.
The world's richest person and the two-time president of the United States weren't always close, but became singular political allies, with Musk calling himself "first buddy" following Trump's 2024 victory and donating more than $200 million toward pro-Trump super PACs.
At the beginning of Trump's second term, Musk was frequently seen on the president's side and served as the de facto head of theWhite House DOGE office, the cost-cutting initiative that made waves throughout the federal government.
In May, Musk started to separate himself somewhat from Trump, saying he'd devote more time to his businesses and spend less money on politics.
By early June, it appeared that their relationship was blowing up in real time as the two publicly disagreed over the "Big, Beautiful Bill." Musk's criticism of the bill — and Trump's criticism of his criticism — continued through the end of the month, with the Tesla CEO calling it "utterly insane" as Republicans' self-imposed deadline for passage approached.
Here's how the two billionaires reached this point.
November 2016: Musk says Trump is 'not the right guy' for the job
"I feel a bit stronger that he is not the right guy. He doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States," Musk said.
The billionaire added that Hillary Clinton's economic and environmental policies were the "right ones."
December 2016: Musk appointed to Trump's advisory councils
Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated his feud with Elon Musk in a series of Truth Social posts belittling the billionaire.
Evan Vucci/AP Photo
After he won the presidency, Trump appointed Musk to two economic advisory councils, along with other business leaders like Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
Musk received criticism for working with the controversial president, but he defended his choice by saying he was using the position to lobby for better environmental and immigration policies.
"You have to give him credit," the former president said, referring to Tesla becoming more valuable than Ford and General Motors. "He's also doing the rockets. He likes rockets. And he's doing good at rockets too, by the way."
Trump went on to call Musk "one of our great geniuses" and likened him to Thomas Edison.
May 2020: Trump backs up Musk in feud with California's COVID-19 rules
Elon Musk meets Donald Trump at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
As the pandemic gripped the US in early 2020, Musk clashed with California public-health officials who forced Tesla to temporarily shut down its factory there. Trump voiced his support for Musk.
"California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW," Trump tweeted in May 2020. "It can be done Fast & Safely!"
Musk called the ban a "morally bad decision" and "foolish to the extreme" in an interview with the Financial Times. Twitter kicked Trump off its platform following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
The Tesla billionaire has called himself a "free speech absolutist," and one of his key goals for taking Twitter private was to loosen content moderation.
July 2022: Trump calls Musk a 'bullshit artist'
Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a "Save America" rally in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 9, 2022
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
In July, Trump took aim at Musk, saying the businessman voted for him but later denied it.
"You know [Musk] said the other day 'Oh, I've never voted for a Republican,'" Trump said during a Saturday rally in Anchorage, Alaska. "I said 'I didn't know that.' He told me he voted for me. So he's another bullshit artist."
On Monday, Musk tweeted that Trump's claim was "not true."
July 2022: Musk says Trump shouldn't run again
Elon Musk co-founded PayPal after his startup X.com merged with Peter Thiel's Confinity.
"I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Dems should also call off the attack – don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency," he tweeted.
He continued: "Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!? Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69." Trump is 76 years old.
July 2022: Trump lashes out
Former President Donald Trump gave the keynote address at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual conference in Nashville.
Seth Herald/Getty Images
Trump then went on the offensive, posting a lengthy attack on Musk on Truth Social, the social media company he founded.
"When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidized projects, whether it's electric cars that don't drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he'd be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, 'drop to your knees and beg,' and he would have done it," Trump said in a post that criticized two of Musk's ventures, Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX.
October 2022: Trump cheers Musk's Twitter deal but says he won't return
Following Musk's official buyout of Twitter on Thursday, Trump posted to Truth Social, cheering the deal.
"I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country," he said. He added that he likes Truth Social better than other platforms, echoing comments from earlier this year in which he ruled out a return to Twitter.
On Monday, Musk joked about the potential of welcoming the former president back to his newly acquired platform.
"If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!," the Tesla CEO tweeted.
May 2023: Musk hosts Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' glitchy debut
Musk and other right-leaning voices in Silicon Valley initially supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis ended 2022 as Trump's best-positioned primary challenger. In November 2022, as DeSantis was skyrocketing to acclaim, Musk said he would endorse him. In March 2023, after enduring Trump's attacks for months, DeSantis prepared to make history by formally announcing his campaign in an interview on Twitter.
The initial few minutes were a glitchy disaster. Trump and his allies ruthlessly mocked DeSantis' "Space" with Musk and venture capitalist David Sachs. DeSantis' interview later proceeded, but his campaign was dogged for days with negative headlines.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks into his phone as he live streams a visit to the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas.
John Moore/Getty Images
September 2023: A Trump-style border wall is needed, Musk says
Musk live-streamed a visit to the US-Mexico border on Twitter, which he had rebranded as "X." Musk said that one of Trump's signature policies was necessary during his visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, to get a first-person look at what local officials called a crisis at the border.
"We actually do need a wall and we need to require people to have some shred of evidence to claim asylum to enter, as everyone is doing that," Musk wrote on X. "It's a hack that you can literally Google to know exactly what to say! Will find out more when I visit Eagle Pass maybe as soon as tomorrow."
Like Trump and others on the right, Musk had criticized the broader consensus in Washington for focusing too much on Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine in comparison to domestic issues like migration.
March 2024: Trump tries to woo Musk, but the billionaire says he won't give him money.
Trump tried to woo Musk during a meeting at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort. According to The New York Times, Trump met with Musk and a few other GOP megadonors when the former president's campaign was particularly cash-strapped. After the Times published its report, Musk said he would not be "donating money to either candidate for US President."
It wasn't clear who Musk meant in terms of the second candidate. He had repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden, who looked poised to be headed toward a rematch with Trump.
July 2024: Musk endorses Trump after the former president is shot
Musk said he "fully endorsed" Trump after the former president was shot during a political rally ahead of the Republican National Convention. The billionaire's endorsement marked a major turning point in his yearslong political evolution from an Obama voter. Days later, it would come to light that Musk pressed Trump to select Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.
Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential pick at the Republican National Convention.
The ticket, Musk wrote on X, "resounds with victory."
It wasn't just his public support that Musk was offering. In July, The Wall Street Journal reported Musk had pledged roughly $45 million to support a pro-Trump super PAC. Musk later said he would donate far less, but his rebranding into a loyal member of the MAGA right was complete.
August 2024: Trump joins Musk for a highly anticipated interview
Trump, who ended the Republican National Convention primed for victory, stumbled after Biden abruptly dropped out of the 2024 race. The former president and his allies have struggled to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee.
Amid Harris' early media blitz, Trump joined Musk on a two-hour livestream on X that garnered an audience of over 1 million listeners. The conversation covered topics ranging from a retelling of Trump's assassination attempt to illegal immigration to Musk's potential role with a government efficiency commission.
In August, Trump began floating the idea that he "certainly would" consider adding Musk to his Cabinet or an advisory role. The Tesla CEO responded by tweeting an AI-generated photo of himself on a podium emblazoned with the acronym "D.O.G.E"—Department of Government Efficiency.
"I am willing to serve," he wrote above the image.
September 2024: Musk says he's ready to serve if Trump gives him an advisory role
In September, Trump softened the suggestion of Musk joining his Cabinet due to his time constraints with running his various business ventures, the Washington Post reported. However, he also said that Musk could "consult with the country" and help give "some very good ideas."
"I can't wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go," he wrote.
He later said on X that he "looked forward to serving" the country and would be willing to do with without any pay, title, or recognition.
October 2024: Musk speaks at Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania
Elon Musk spoke at Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Musk joined Trump onstage during the former president's rally, hosted on October 5 in the same location where Trump survived an assassination attempt in July. Musk sported an all-black "Make America Great Again" cap and briefly addressed the crowd, saying that voter turnout for Trump this year was essential or "this will be the last election."
"President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution," Musk said. "He must win to preserve democracy in America."
The next day, Musk's America PAC announced that it would offer $47 to each person who refers registered voters residing in swing states to sign a petition "in support for the First and Second Amendments."
By October, the PAC had reportedly already spent over $80 million on the election, with over $8.2 million spread across 18 competitive House races for the GOP.
The Tesla CEO later told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he might face "vengeance" if Trump loses the election.
November 2024: Trump wins the presidency and names Musk his administration
President-elect Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have been nearly inseparable since the election, going to social and political events together.
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Musk was by Trump's side on election night at Mar-a-Lago, helping celebrate his victory.
Nearly a week after his 2024 presidential election win, Trump announced that Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy were chosen to lead a newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE, as Musk likes to call it, in reference to the meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin).
"Together, these two wonderful Americans will pay the way for my Administration to dismantle the Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said in a statement.
It's unclear whether the department will formally exist within the government, though Trump said the office would "provide advice and guidance from outside of Government" and work directly with the White House and Office of Management & Budget.
Musk responded in a post on X that the Department of Government Efficiency will be post all their actions online "for maximum transparency."
"Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!" Musk wrote. "We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining."
Outside of administrative duties, Musk has also attended "almost every meeting and many meals that Mr. Trump has had," the New York Times reported, acting as a partial advisor and confidant. The Tesla CEO also reportedly joined Trump's calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while both men were at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago club, where Musk seems to have settled in.
"Elon won't go home," Trump told NBC News jokingly. "I can't get rid of him."
The two's close relationship has extended to a more personal friendship. Musk was seen attending Trump's Thanksgiving dinner and on the golf course with Trump and his grandchildren, where Kai Trump said he achieved "uncle status."
December 2024: Trump reaffirms he will be the next President, not Musk
While Musk and Trump are both big personalities, the President-elect made it clear that he'll be the one running the country. President-elect Donald Trump dismissed the notion that he "ceded the presidency" to Musk and said that even if the billionaire wanted to be president, he couldn't because he was born in South Africa.
"No, he's not going to be president, that I can tell you," Trump said at Turning Point USA's annual "AmericaFest" in December. "And I'm safe. You know why? He can't be? He wasn't born in this country."
Trump's comments came after Musk flexed his influence to help shut down a bipartisan emergency spending bill earlier that month. Some Republicans questioned why Trump hadn't been more active in derailing the bill, and Democrats baited the President-elect on social media with posts about Musk "calling the shots" and taking on the role of a "shadow president.
Prior to Trump addressing the subject, Trump's team also looked to shut down the idea that Musk is leading the Republican Party.
"As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view," Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition, told BI. "President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop."
January 2025: Musk and fellow billionaires celebrate Trump's inauguration
Elon Musk spoke onstage during an inauguration event at Capital One Arena.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Trump was sworn into office on January 20. Several tech leaders were in attendance, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Google's Sundar Pichai. The "first buddy" was also front and center for Trump's inauguration.
Musk took the stage to celebrate at an inauguration event at the Capital One Arena, where he sparked accusations over a gesture he made that some said resembled a Nazi salute. Musk denied the allegations.
"Hopefully, people realize I'm not a Nazi. Just to be clear, I'm not a Nazi," he said during an interview with Joe Rogan.
February 2025: The White House says Musk isn't running DOGE
Elon Musk is undoubtedly the face of DOGE. It remains clear who exactly is running it.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Though Musk has been the face of the DOGE effort, White House court filings said he has "no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."
In the filing, Musk is described as a senior advisor to Trump with "no greater authority than other senior White House advisors." Officials have also called him a "special government employee."
Trump told reporters they can call Musk "whatever you want."
"Elon is to me a patriot," Trump said in February. "You could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant, you could call him whatever you want."
Later that month, a White House official told BI that Amy Gleason, who previously worked for US Digital Service, is the acting DOGE administrator.
March 2025: Trump buys a Tesla and calls out protesters
Trump and Musk sit inside a red Tesla Model S in front of the White House.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Despite court filings and White House officials stating otherwise, Trump told Congress that Musk is the leader of the DOGE office.
"I have created the brand-new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, perhaps you've heard of it, which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight," Trump said during his speech on March 4.
Those questioning the constitutionality of DOGE were quick to respond by letting a federal judge know about their claims that Musk is in charge.
Meanwhile, calls for a Tesla boycott are growing as Musk becomes more involved in Trump's presidency. Protests, boycotts, and vandalism at Tesla dealerships across the US have spread since the beginning of 2025.
Trump stepped in to defend Musk's electric car company on Tuesday, with Teslas on the South Lawn of the White House. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote that he'd purchase a car to show support amid the public outcry.
"The Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World's great automakers, and Elon's 'baby,' in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for," the president wrote.
April 2025: Musk announces he's stepping back from DOGE
Elon Musk said he was going to spend more time on Tesla.
Samuel Corum via Getty Images
Three months into DOGE's mission to reshape the federal workforce, Musk announced that he would be stepping back from the effort. He broke the news during an underwhelming Tesla earnings call, where earnings per share were down 71% year over year.
"Starting next month, I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla," Musk said during the call. He added that "the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency" had been completed.
At the time, Musk said he would keep spending one or two days each week on governmental duties, so long as Trump wanted him to do so.
May 2025: Musk says he'll be spending less on politics, criticizes the Republican agenda, and announces he's leaving government for good
Musk said he'd be spending a "lot less" on political campaigns in an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum.
Bloomberg
By May, Musk started to step back from his political activity overall. During an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, he said he thinks he's "done enough" in terms of political contributions.
"In terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future," he said, adding that he didn't "currently see a reason" to pour money into politics. Previously, Musk had said his super PAC would contribute to 2026 midterm efforts.
A few days later, Musk told a reporter that he "probably did spend a bit too much time on politics," and that he'd "reduced that significantly in recent weeks."
Musk took a decidedly more critical tone regarding the overall Republican agenda. In an interview with CBS in late May, he said he wasn't pleased with Trump and House Republicans' "big beautiful" spending bill.
"I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said.
And then, on May 28, Musk cut ties with DOGE and the Trump administration. The White House confirmed that it had started Musk's off-boarding process.
"As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending," Musk wrote in a post on X. "The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."
Under federal law, special government employees can't serve for more than 130 days a year. Musk left the administration 128 days after the inauguration.
June 2025: Musk and Trump escalate attacks, after Tesla CEO delivers sharp rebuke against the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Musk spoke out against Trump's spending bill.
ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images
Days after stepping away from his job in the White House, Musk delivered his harshest criticism yet of the GOP spending proposal called the "Big Beautiful Bill."
"I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk wrote on X on June 3. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
Some congressional Republicans, including Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee, posted that they agreed with Musk. Meanwhile, Trump has consistently defended the bill on Truth Social, including just hours before Musk's critical post on X.
In an interview with CBS News that aired June 1, Musk said, "I'm a little stuck in a bind where I'm like, well, I don't want to speak up against the administration, but I also don't want to take responsibility for everything the administration's doing."
Musk began to dig up old tweets from Trump, including one where the president said in 2013, "I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling—I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!"
Musk quote-tweeted it with the message, "Wise words," taking a dig at Trump's very different stance on the debt ceiling today.
Trump first shot back with a softer/more diplomatic response, saying that the CEO and he "had a great relationship," but he wasn't sure if it would continue.
Musk shot back within minutes on X, saying that while he thought the EV phase-out was unfair, what he really took issue with was the "MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill."
The tone soon took a sharp turn after the president threatened on the same day to terminate the federal contracts that Musk's companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, rely on, and Musk began to take credit for Trump's 2024 electoral victory.
In response to Trump's threat to cancel the government contracts, Musk said on X that he'd immediately decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which provides NASA transport to and from the International Space Station.
"The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country! Utterly insane and destructive," Musk said on X on June 28. "It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future."
He continued to bash the bill on X, focusing in particular on how it would end Biden-era tax credits for renewable energy and saying that the bill would probably decrease America's energy capacity. It would be, he said in a post on June 28, "incredibly destructive."
Trump responded that same weekend, though in somewhat muted tones. He called Musk a "wonderful guy" in an interview with Fox News, adding that the two haven't spoken much.
"He's a smart guy. And he actually went and campaigned with me and this and that," Trump said. "But he got a little bit upset, and that wasn't appropriate."
Musk on June 30 doubled down on his calls for another political party, saying on X, "If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day."
"Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame," Musk wrote on X. "And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth."
July 2025: Trump threatens to turn DOGE on Musk
Trump speaks to reports outside the White House on July 1.
Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images
Trump responded on July 1 on Truth Social, suggesting DOGE be turned on its former chief.
"Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE," he wrote.
Musk followed up with more posts on X proclaiming his opposition to the spending bill.
"What's the point of a debt ceiling if we keep raising it?" he wrote in one post.
At the White House on Tuesday morning, asked if he would deport Musk, Trump responded, "I don't know. We'll have to take a look."
Musk shortly after said on X that it was "so tempting to escalate this…but I will refrain for now."
After arriving in Florida later on Tuesday, Trump told reporters, "DOGE is going to look at Musk. If DOGE looks at Musk, we're going to save a fortune."
"I don't think he should be playing that game with me," the president added.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have had their ups and downs over the years.
(Photo/Alex Brandon)
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have had a tumultuous relationship over the years.
While the two traded barbs during Trump's first presidency, they've become political allies.
Musk officially joined the administration, but recently criticized Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
Elon Musk and Donald Trump have had something of an on-again-off-again relationship over the years.
The world's richest person and the two-time president of the United States weren't always close, but became singular political allies, with Musk calling himself "first buddy" following Trump's 2024 victory and donating more than $200 million toward pro-Trump super PACs.
At the beginning of Trump's second term, Musk was frequently seen on the president's side and served as the de facto head of theWhite House DOGE office, the cost-cutting initiative that made waves throughout the federal government.
In May, Musk started to separate himself somewhat from Trump, saying he'd devote more time to his businesses and spend less money on politics.
By early June, it appeared that their relationship was blowing up in real time as the two publicly disagreed over the "Big, Beautiful Bill." Musk's criticism of the bill — and Trump's criticism of his criticism — continued through the end of the month, with the Tesla CEO calling it "utterly insane" as Republicans' self-imposed deadline for passage approached.
Here's how the two billionaires reached this point.
November 2016: Musk says Trump is 'not the right guy' for the job
"I feel a bit stronger that he is not the right guy. He doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States," Musk said.
The billionaire added that Hillary Clinton's economic and environmental policies were the "right ones."
December 2016: Musk appointed to Trump's advisory councils
Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated his feud with Elon Musk in a series of Truth Social posts belittling the billionaire.
Evan Vucci/AP Photo
After he won the presidency, Trump appointed Musk to two economic advisory councils, along with other business leaders like Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
Musk received criticism for working with the controversial president, but he defended his choice by saying he was using the position to lobby for better environmental and immigration policies.
"You have to give him credit," the former president said, referring to Tesla becoming more valuable than Ford and General Motors. "He's also doing the rockets. He likes rockets. And he's doing good at rockets too, by the way."
Trump went on to call Musk "one of our great geniuses" and likened him to Thomas Edison.
May 2020: Trump backs up Musk in feud with California's COVID-19 rules
Elon Musk meets Donald Trump at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
As the pandemic gripped the US in early 2020, Musk clashed with California public-health officials who forced Tesla to temporarily shut down its factory there. Trump voiced his support for Musk.
"California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW," Trump tweeted in May 2020. "It can be done Fast & Safely!"
Musk called the ban a "morally bad decision" and "foolish to the extreme" in an interview with the Financial Times. Twitter kicked Trump off its platform following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
The Tesla billionaire has called himself a "free speech absolutist," and one of his key goals for taking Twitter private was to loosen content moderation.
July 2022: Trump calls Musk a 'bullshit artist'
Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a "Save America" rally in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 9, 2022
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
In July, Trump took aim at Musk, saying the businessman voted for him but later denied it.
"You know [Musk] said the other day 'Oh, I've never voted for a Republican,'" Trump said during a Saturday rally in Anchorage, Alaska. "I said 'I didn't know that.' He told me he voted for me. So he's another bullshit artist."
On Monday, Musk tweeted that Trump's claim was "not true."
July 2022: Musk says Trump shouldn't run again
Elon Musk co-founded PayPal after his startup X.com merged with Peter Thiel's Confinity.
"I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Dems should also call off the attack – don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency," he tweeted.
He continued: "Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!? Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69." Trump is 76 years old.
July 2022: Trump lashes out
Former President Donald Trump gave the keynote address at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual conference in Nashville.
Seth Herald/Getty Images
Trump then went on the offensive, posting a lengthy attack on Musk on Truth Social, the social media company he founded.
"When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidized projects, whether it's electric cars that don't drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he'd be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, 'drop to your knees and beg,' and he would have done it," Trump said in a post that criticized two of Musk's ventures, Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX.
October 2022: Trump cheers Musk's Twitter deal but says he won't return
Following Musk's official buyout of Twitter on Thursday, Trump posted to Truth Social, cheering the deal.
"I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country," he said. He added that he likes Truth Social better than other platforms, echoing comments from earlier this year in which he ruled out a return to Twitter.
On Monday, Musk joked about the potential of welcoming the former president back to his newly acquired platform.
"If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!," the Tesla CEO tweeted.
May 2023: Musk hosts Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' glitchy debut
Musk and other right-leaning voices in Silicon Valley initially supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis ended 2022 as Trump's best-positioned primary challenger. In November 2022, as DeSantis was skyrocketing to acclaim, Musk said he would endorse him. In March 2023, after enduring Trump's attacks for months, DeSantis prepared to make history by formally announcing his campaign in an interview on Twitter.
The initial few minutes were a glitchy disaster. Trump and his allies ruthlessly mocked DeSantis' "Space" with Musk and venture capitalist David Sachs. DeSantis' interview later proceeded, but his campaign was dogged for days with negative headlines.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks into his phone as he live streams a visit to the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas.
John Moore/Getty Images
September 2023: A Trump-style border wall is needed, Musk says
Musk live-streamed a visit to the US-Mexico border on Twitter, which he had rebranded as "X." Musk said that one of Trump's signature policies was necessary during his visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, to get a first-person look at what local officials called a crisis at the border.
"We actually do need a wall and we need to require people to have some shred of evidence to claim asylum to enter, as everyone is doing that," Musk wrote on X. "It's a hack that you can literally Google to know exactly what to say! Will find out more when I visit Eagle Pass maybe as soon as tomorrow."
Like Trump and others on the right, Musk had criticized the broader consensus in Washington for focusing too much on Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine in comparison to domestic issues like migration.
March 2024: Trump tries to woo Musk, but the billionaire says he won't give him money.
Trump tried to woo Musk during a meeting at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort. According to The New York Times, Trump met with Musk and a few other GOP megadonors when the former president's campaign was particularly cash-strapped. After the Times published its report, Musk said he would not be "donating money to either candidate for US President."
It wasn't clear who Musk meant in terms of the second candidate. He had repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden, who looked poised to be headed toward a rematch with Trump.
July 2024: Musk endorses Trump after the former president is shot
Musk said he "fully endorsed" Trump after the former president was shot during a political rally ahead of the Republican National Convention. The billionaire's endorsement marked a major turning point in his yearslong political evolution from an Obama voter. Days later, it would come to light that Musk pressed Trump to select Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.
Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential pick at the Republican National Convention.
The ticket, Musk wrote on X, "resounds with victory."
It wasn't just his public support that Musk was offering. In July, The Wall Street Journal reported Musk had pledged roughly $45 million to support a pro-Trump super PAC. Musk later said he would donate far less, but his rebranding into a loyal member of the MAGA right was complete.
August 2024: Trump joins Musk for a highly anticipated interview
Trump, who ended the Republican National Convention primed for victory, stumbled after Biden abruptly dropped out of the 2024 race. The former president and his allies have struggled to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee.
Amid Harris' early media blitz, Trump joined Musk on a two-hour livestream on X that garnered an audience of over 1 million listeners. The conversation covered topics ranging from a retelling of Trump's assassination attempt to illegal immigration to Musk's potential role with a government efficiency commission.
In August, Trump began floating the idea that he "certainly would" consider adding Musk to his Cabinet or an advisory role. The Tesla CEO responded by tweeting an AI-generated photo of himself on a podium emblazoned with the acronym "D.O.G.E"—Department of Government Efficiency.
"I am willing to serve," he wrote above the image.
September 2024: Musk says he's ready to serve if Trump gives him an advisory role
In September, Trump softened the suggestion of Musk joining his Cabinet due to his time constraints with running his various business ventures, the Washington Post reported. However, he also said that Musk could "consult with the country" and help give "some very good ideas."
"I can't wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go," he wrote.
He later said on X that he "looked forward to serving" the country and would be willing to do with without any pay, title, or recognition.
October 2024: Musk speaks at Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania
Elon Musk spoke at Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Musk joined Trump onstage during the former president's rally, hosted on October 5 in the same location where Trump survived an assassination attempt in July. Musk sported an all-black "Make America Great Again" cap and briefly addressed the crowd, saying that voter turnout for Trump this year was essential or "this will be the last election."
"President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution," Musk said. "He must win to preserve democracy in America."
The next day, Musk's America PAC announced that it would offer $47 to each person who refers registered voters residing in swing states to sign a petition "in support for the First and Second Amendments."
By October, the PAC had reportedly already spent over $80 million on the election, with over $8.2 million spread across 18 competitive House races for the GOP.
The Tesla CEO later told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he might face "vengeance" if Trump loses the election.
November 2024: Trump wins the presidency and names Musk his administration
President-elect Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have been nearly inseparable since the election, going to social and political events together.
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Musk was by Trump's side on election night at Mar-a-Lago, helping celebrate his victory.
Nearly a week after his 2024 presidential election win, Trump announced that Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy were chosen to lead a newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE, as Musk likes to call it, in reference to the meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin).
"Together, these two wonderful Americans will pay the way for my Administration to dismantle the Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said in a statement.
It's unclear whether the department will formally exist within the government, though Trump said the office would "provide advice and guidance from outside of Government" and work directly with the White House and Office of Management & Budget.
Musk responded in a post on X that the Department of Government Efficiency will be post all their actions online "for maximum transparency."
"Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!" Musk wrote. "We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining."
Outside of administrative duties, Musk has also attended "almost every meeting and many meals that Mr. Trump has had," the New York Times reported, acting as a partial advisor and confidant. The Tesla CEO also reportedly joined Trump's calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while both men were at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago club, where Musk seems to have settled in.
"Elon won't go home," Trump told NBC News jokingly. "I can't get rid of him."
The two's close relationship has extended to a more personal friendship. Musk was seen attending Trump's Thanksgiving dinner and on the golf course with Trump and his grandchildren, where Kai Trump said he achieved "uncle status."
December 2024: Trump reaffirms he will be the next President, not Musk
While Musk and Trump are both big personalities, the President-elect made it clear that he'll be the one running the country. President-elect Donald Trump dismissed the notion that he "ceded the presidency" to Musk and said that even if the billionaire wanted to be president, he couldn't because he was born in South Africa.
"No, he's not going to be president, that I can tell you," Trump said at Turning Point USA's annual "AmericaFest" in December. "And I'm safe. You know why? He can't be? He wasn't born in this country."
Trump's comments came after Musk flexed his influence to help shut down a bipartisan emergency spending bill earlier that month. Some Republicans questioned why Trump hadn't been more active in derailing the bill, and Democrats baited the President-elect on social media with posts about Musk "calling the shots" and taking on the role of a "shadow president.
Prior to Trump addressing the subject, Trump's team also looked to shut down the idea that Musk is leading the Republican Party.
"As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view," Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition, told BI. "President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop."
January 2025: Musk and fellow billionaires celebrate Trump's inauguration
Elon Musk spoke onstage during an inauguration event at Capital One Arena.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Trump was sworn into office on January 20. Several tech leaders were in attendance, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Google's Sundar Pichai. The "first buddy" was also front and center for Trump's inauguration.
Musk took the stage to celebrate at an inauguration event at the Capital One Arena, where he sparked accusations over a gesture he made that some said resembled a Nazi salute. Musk denied the allegations.
"Hopefully, people realize I'm not a Nazi. Just to be clear, I'm not a Nazi," he said during an interview with Joe Rogan.
February 2025: The White House says Musk isn't running DOGE
Elon Musk is undoubtedly the face of DOGE. It remains clear who exactly is running it.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Though Musk has been the face of the DOGE effort, White House court filings said he has "no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."
In the filing, Musk is described as a senior advisor to Trump with "no greater authority than other senior White House advisors." Officials have also called him a "special government employee."
Trump told reporters they can call Musk "whatever you want."
"Elon is to me a patriot," Trump said in February. "You could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant, you could call him whatever you want."
Later that month, a White House official told BI that Amy Gleason, who previously worked for US Digital Service, is the acting DOGE administrator.
March 2025: Trump buys a Tesla and calls out protesters
Trump and Musk sit inside a red Tesla Model S in front of the White House.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Despite court filings and White House officials stating otherwise, Trump told Congress that Musk is the leader of the DOGE office.
"I have created the brand-new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, perhaps you've heard of it, which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight," Trump said during his speech on March 4.
Those questioning the constitutionality of DOGE were quick to respond by letting a federal judge know about their claims that Musk is in charge.
Meanwhile, calls for a Tesla boycott are growing as Musk becomes more involved in Trump's presidency. Protests, boycotts, and vandalism at Tesla dealerships across the US have spread since the beginning of 2025.
Trump stepped in to defend Musk's electric car company on Tuesday, with Teslas on the South Lawn of the White House. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote that he'd purchase a car to show support amid the public outcry.
"The Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World's great automakers, and Elon's 'baby,' in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for," the president wrote.
April 2025: Musk announces he's stepping back from DOGE
Elon Musk said he was going to spend more time on Tesla.
Samuel Corum via Getty Images
Three months into DOGE's mission to reshape the federal workforce, Musk announced that he would be stepping back from the effort. He broke the news during an underwhelming Tesla earnings call, where earnings per share were down 71% year over year.
"Starting next month, I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla," Musk said during the call. He added that "the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency" had been completed.
At the time, Musk said he would keep spending one or two days each week on governmental duties, so long as Trump wanted him to do so.
May 2025: Musk says he'll be spending less on politics, criticizes the Republican agenda, and announces he's leaving government for good
Musk said he'd be spending a "lot less" on political campaigns in an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum.
Bloomberg
By May, Musk started to step back from his political activity overall. During an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, he said he thinks he's "done enough" in terms of political contributions.
"In terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future," he said, adding that he didn't "currently see a reason" to pour money into politics. Previously, Musk had said his super PAC would contribute to 2026 midterm efforts.
A few days later, Musk told a reporter that he "probably did spend a bit too much time on politics," and that he'd "reduced that significantly in recent weeks."
Musk took a decidedly more critical tone regarding the overall Republican agenda. In an interview with CBS in late May, he said he wasn't pleased with Trump and House Republicans' "big beautiful" spending bill.
"I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said.
And then, on May 28, Musk cut ties with DOGE and the Trump administration. The White House confirmed that it had started Musk's off-boarding process.
"As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending," Musk wrote in a post on X. "The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."
Under federal law, special government employees can't serve for more than 130 days a year. Musk left the administration 128 days after the inauguration.
June 2025: Musk and Trump escalate attacks, after Tesla CEO delivers sharp rebuke against the 'Big Beautiful Bill.'
Musk spoke out against Trump's spending bill.
ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images
Days after stepping away from his job in the White House, Musk delivered his harshest criticism yet of the GOP spending proposal called the "Big Beautiful Bill."
"I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk wrote on X on June 3. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
Some congressional Republicans, including Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee, posted that they agreed with Musk. Meanwhile, Trump has consistently defended the bill on Truth Social, including just hours before Musk's critical post on X.
In an interview with CBS News that aired June 1, Musk said, "I'm a little stuck in a bind where I'm like, well, I don't want to speak up against the administration, but I also don't want to take responsibility for everything the administration's doing."
Musk began to dig up old tweets from Trump, including one where the president said in 2013, "I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling—I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!"
Musk quote-tweeted it with the message, "Wise words," taking a dig at Trump's very different stance on the debt ceiling today.
Trump first shot back with a softer/more diplomatic response, saying that the CEO and he "had a great relationship," but he wasn't sure if it would continue.
Musk shot back within minutes on X, saying that while he thought the EV phase-out was unfair, what he really took issue with was the "MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill."
The tone soon took a sharp turn after the president threatened on the same day to terminate the federal contracts that Musk's companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, rely on, and Musk began to take credit for Trump's 2024 electoral victory.
In response to Trump's threat to cancel the government contracts, Musk said on X that he'd immediately decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which provides NASA transport to and from the International Space Station.
"The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country! Utterly insane and destructive," Musk said on X on June 28. "It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future."
He continued to bash the bill on X, focusing in particular on how it would end Biden-era tax credits for renewable energy and saying that the bill would probably decrease America's energy capacity. It would be, he said in a post on June 28, "incredibly destructive."
Trump responded that same weekend, though in somewhat muted tones. He called Musk a "wonderful guy" in an interview with Fox News, adding that the two haven't spoken much.
"He's a smart guy. And he actually went and campaigned with me and this and that," Trump said. "But he got a little bit upset, and that wasn't appropriate."