The very ugly breakup of the Trump-Musk bromance

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

The very ugly breakup of the Trump-Musk bromance

Everyone saw this one coming. Any relationship between two (sorta unhinged) white guys with way too much power and ego was never going to last. After months of cootchie cooing in the Oval office, the two have finally broken up. It’s every bit as ugly and public as you’d expect.

How it started: Last July, Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump for president—and donated vast sums of money to get him elected. For which he was rewarded with the position of ‘first buddy’. Perks included jetting around on Air Force One, sleepovers at the White House—and sitting on highly sensitive national security meetings.

DOGE, baby, DOGE: Musk was also put in charge of DOGE—Department of Government Efficiency—to cut government spending. All of which led to ketamine-fuelled stage appearances with a chain saw—and mass firings of employees—including ‘useless’ air traffic controllers. Sadly, he never reached his target of $1 trillion in cuts—there is only evidence for a measly $32.5 billion.

The first signs of trouble: Last week, Donald went and pissed on months of Elon’s hard work. He rolled out “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” that will add $5.2 trillion to US debt—and will increase the budget deficit by $600 billion in the first fiscal year. To which, Elon politely said: “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful. But I don't know if it can be both”—and announced his departure from “public duty” soon after. The breakup seemed amicable:

In a departing news conference at the White House, Trump and Musk showered each other with praise, and the president gave the tech tycoon a large golden key in a wooden box. Although according to the president, Musk is "not really leaving" and will continue to be "back and forth" to the White House.

Umm, maybe not.

Shots fired: On Saturday, Trump launched the first assault—aimed squarely at Musk’s pocket. He junked the plan to make Musk’s buddy Jared Isaacman—an avid customer: of SpaceX—the next NASA administrator. Crony capitalism suffered its first great setback that day. By Tuesday, Musk had downgraded his assessment of Trump’s spending bill to a “disgusting abomination.” The very next day, he declared war on it: “KILL the BILL.” Yes, he dared to use all caps—a privilege reserved for the orange emperor.

Cue the ‘yo momma’ phase: Thursday started on a mild note. When asked about Musk at a press conference, Trump merely said: “I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.” But things got ugly when the brawl moved to social media. Musk claimed credit for electing Trump—and accused him of “ingratitude.” The two traded more charges—Musk even referred to Trump’s links to the dead pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. He also suggested he should be impeached.

Funniest bits: The top trending topic on X was “THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING.” Soundtrack of choice: “Get Him Back!” by Olivia Rodrigo—which is all about a guy with “an ego and a temper and a wandering eye.” The best comment—Dem spokesperson Josh Sorbe who tweeted: “This messy Trump-Musk breakup is truly the gayest thing about pride month.”

Finally, the money bombs: As with all rich folks, it ain’t serious until both sides start talking paisa. Trump threatened to cut all of Musk’s federal contracts:

He mused on Truth Social that the “easiest way to save money in our Budget” would be to wipe out Mr. Musk’s government subsidies and contracts. “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” Mr. Trump added.

Ah, such a deliciously ironic DOGE revenge. Musk came bouncing back with threats to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft asap—which would be super-mean to NASA:

If SpaceX were really to decommission its Dragon spacecraft, presumably the company would still bring back the one currently docked at the International Space Station and not strand the four astronauts it took to orbit. But without Dragon, NASA would find itself in an immediate bind because it does not have other readily available alternatives to carry astronauts, food or supplies to the space station.

Peacemakers #fail: Neither side listened to wise counsel of MAGA elders—like Kanye West who tweeted: “Broooos please noooooo.”

Where we are now: Musk appeared to walk back his NASA bombshells—maybe because his Tesla shares tanked by 15% in the aftermath. The share price graph looks like this:

Trump will 100% end the subsidies for EVs—which will further dent Tesla’s falling sales.

But, but, but: Feuding with one of the richest men in the world isn’t going to be a cakewalk:

Mr. Musk, who spent about $275 million helping elect Mr. Trump in 2024, had promised to give $100 million to groups controlled by the president’s team before the 2026 midterms — funds that have yet to be delivered and are now very much in doubt. Mr. Trump not only must confront the choking-off of election support; he now must contend with the wrath of an ally-turned-foe who appears determined to undermine his standing on the right.

Reading list: The most unbelievable bit about this story is that it is the top headline round the world. Quite frankly, we wouldn’t have done this item otherwise. CNN and BBC News offer a good overview. New York Times reports on the damage to Tesla shares—and the timeline of the fallout. We leave you with the best Trump v Musk memes—ranging from the obvious:

To the truly clever (this is a reference to an iconic Soviet-era image of the ‘The Vanishing Commissar’—a man airbrushed out of a photo with Stalin):

RCB stampede: Criminal charges, sackings et al

The context: In case you managed to miss it, a planned victory parade for the Royal Challengers Bangalore sparked a stampede—when 200,000-300,000 fans rushed into the Chinnaswamy stadium—which can only accommodate 32,000. We laid out what happened yesterday.

What happened now: When things go wrong, someone’s head has to roll—sometimes rightfully, many times not. Everyone in charge got their share of grief… except the politicians of course. The latest version of events puts the blame squarely on RCB officials, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and the event management company DNA. All three have been charged with culpable homicide—and CM Siddaramaiah has ordered the arrest of their top officials.

Here’s why—according to police sources:

On Tuesday evening, KSCA CEO Shubendu Ghosh submitted a request to the police to organise a victory celebration on Wednesday
The request was denied, citing security reasons and traffic issues
Yet, the next day, the RCB social media handle announced: “RCB Victory Parade: Today at 5 pm IST”
The police seemingly gave in to pressure: “an emergency meeting was arranged to discuss the security measures and traffic arrangements”

Point to note: According to The Telegraph, “The RCB management has reportedly told the police that they felt compelled to hold the victory celebrations on Wednesday because the foreign players were scheduled to return home.”

Wait, there’s more: Siddaramaiah ordered the suspension of the Bengaluru police commissioner and other senior police officers—for “prima facie dereliction of duty and negligence.” He has also ordered an investigation—headed by a former judge who has to submit his report within 30 days. Separately, the Karnataka High Court has stepped into the fray—and asked for a “status report.” The hearing is slated for June 10.

The Telegraph and Sportstar have the most details.

Brilliant breakthrough promises HIV cure

Aussie researchers took a huge step toward finding a cure for HIV—which has remained impossible for decades. As of now, HIV-positive patients can only manage their condition. The key reason: The virus is very good at hiding itself in white blood cells—making it impossible to target—be it by our immune system or drugs. This new research has found a way to make the virus visible:

[T]he researchers have shown for the first time that mRNA can be delivered into the cells where HIV is hiding, by encasing it in a tiny, specially formulated fat bubble. The mRNA then instructs the cells to reveal the virus.

Previously, it was considered “impossible” to deliver mRNA to the type of white blood cell that houses the HIV virus. So this is a pretty big deal. Reminder: nearly 40 million people worldwide live with HIV, requiring lifelong medication. Also this: the technology could be adapted to treat other diseases involving similar immune cells, such as certain cancers. (The Guardian)

Gaming your brainwaves to kill pain

An Australian team has developed a system that helps people reshape their brainwaves to reduce neuropathic pain. This kind of chronic pain is caused by damaged or malfunctioning nerves that misfire and send incorrect signals to the brain. The cause:

“The brainwaves of people with neuropathic pain show a distinct pattern: more slow theta waves, fewer alpha waves, and more fast, high beta waves,” co-lead author Sylvia Gustin... Her research has investigated changes in the thalamus—a central brain structure that relays sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex—associated with nerve pain. “We believe these changes interfere with how the thalamus talks to other parts of the brain, especially the sensory motor cortex, which registers pain,” she said.

What PainWaive does: Patients are asked to play specific interactive games that help change the shape of these waves—which in turn removes the communication blocks from the thalamus. The result: “three of the four participants experienced pain relief comparable to or greater than that offered by opioids”—which is why this matters. Yes, the sample size is small. But this approach offers a practical and viable solution to opioid addiction—which is most often a result of chronic pain management. You can read the full study here. (Gizmodo)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Reddit vs Anthropic continues: The social network company sued Anthropic claiming that it accessed its platform more than 100,000 times since July 2024—after Anthropic allegedly blocked its bots from doing so.
Amazon’s gearing up to have humanoid robots deliver your packages.
Coming soon to ChatGPT: meeting recordings for business users, connectors for Google Drive, Dropbox and more. TechCrunch has the story.
Microsoft stock just hit a record high—riding the wave of its AI gold rush and Wall Street’s soaring expectations.
Google is partnering with Chile to deploy a trans-Pacific undersea cable connecting South America with Asia and Oceania.

sports & entertainment

The French Open women’s final will be contested between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka, after they defeated local rookie Lois Boisson and heavy hitter Iga Swiatek respectively.
India’s upcoming Test series away to England will be Shubman Gill’s first as the new captain. ESPNCricinfo has the takeaways from his first press conference.

health & environment

A new study has found that smoking weed and eating edibles—consuming cannabis—comes with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
New research reveals that dehorning of rhinos by veterinarians has reduced poaching by 78% in eight wildlife reserves in southern Africa. FYI: rhino horns grow back, like fingernails.
Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has a must-read on how ‘inflammaging’—chronic, low grade inflammatory pain associated with aging—drives a high number of cancer cases in people over 50.

meanwhile, in the world

The Donald has suspended foreign student visas at Harvard—citing “national security concerns”—less than a day after a US judge had blocked a previous attempt by the Department of Homeland Security to ban international students.
Politico reviews German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s first meeting with the Donald—in which blowups were avoided but the Donald moved away from his many promises to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Members of the UN’s nuclear agency are drafting a resolution accusing Iran of non-compliance with its so-called safeguards obligations for the first time in 20 years.
The Netherlands is still supporting the supply chain of Israel’s version of the F-35 fighter jet, more than a year after a court banned direct Dutch exports of the jet’s parts to Israel.
Israel launched several attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs. It’s the fourth attack on the Lebanese capital since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah last November.
The Trump administration has slapped sanctions on four International Criminal Court (ICC) judges over the tribunal’s investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
The ‘Madleen’—an aid ‘flotilla’ en route to Gaza with Greta Thunberg among its crew—has rescued refugees of the Sudanese war.
The New Zealand parliament has suspended three MPs for performing a ‘haka’ in protest against a controversial bill.
A second attempt at a moon landing—by Japanese firm ispace—has likely ended in failure. The Guardian has more.
Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has a must-read on how the Yemeni Houthis rattled the US navy and transformed maritime war.
New York Times (splainer gift link) looks at the gruelling pilgrimage made by thousands of Hindus in Pakistan to Balochistan’s Hinglaj Devi temple for an annual, 3-day festival.

meanwhile, in India

Indian students are deleting their social media posts and accounts en masse to better their chances of securing US visas, but experts say that could raise red flags.
Tata Advanced Systems and Dassault have inked a deal for a manufacturing facility in Hyderabad—to produce the main body of Rafale fighter aircraft by 2027-28.
BBC News has an investigative report on people in Assam who were accused of being illegal immigrants and forcibly sent to Bangladesh—despite claiming they are Indians.
Islamabad will either chair or co-chair three anti-terrorism bodies at the UN Security Council—much to New Delhi’s unease.
Featuring interviews with journalists, Washington Post (splainer gift link) looks at how misinformation overtook Indian newsrooms amid the conflict with Pakistan.
Sticking with Operation Sindoor, Newslaundry details the diplomacy failures of India’s seven all-party delegations that were tasked with shoring up global support for India and seeking accountability for Pakistan.

Six things to see

One: A super rare portrait of Mahatma Gandhi will be auctioned next month in London’s Bonhams auction house. The portrait was made when Gandhi travelled to London in 1931 for the second Round Table conference—to discuss India’s independence. (BBC News)

Two: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has married Supreme Court lawyer and former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Pinaki Misra, in a quiet ceremony in Germany. You can see the happy couple below. (The Telegraph)

Three: The famous filmmaker Mira Nair’s son Zohran Mamdani is running for NYC mayor. He is up against ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo. Here’s Mamdani’s campaign video in Hindi—full of filmi references! (Hindustan Times)

Four: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are back as Elphaba and Glinda! The second part of Wicked—titled ‘Wicked: For Good’—just dropped its trailer. It’ll show events leading up to Elphaba’s defeat as the Wicked Witch of the West at the hands of Dorothy. The movie will be released on November 21. You can see the trailer here. (Gizmodo)

Five: We’re not getting a new James Bond movie anytime soon but here’s the trailer for ‘007 First Light’—a James Bond game by Danish video game developer IO Interactive for Xbox, PC, Switch 2 and PS5. It is slated to launch sometime in 2026. The story is an origin story of a young Tom Cruise-looking Bond with ‘Uncharted’ vibes. (The Verge)

Six: To truly get into Friday mood: this is Ed Sheeran’s latest song ‘Sapphire’ which he recorded during his India tour. The track features sitar and tabla beats as well as Arijit Singh. See the music vid below. (Billboard)