Americast: Trump vs Elon Musk

21 snips

Jun 6, 2025

Tensions escalate as Donald Trump and Elon Musk clash publicly, lobbing insults and threats on social media. The fallout could influence the 2026 midterms, given their significant political and financial power. Their rivalry is examined, revealing how personal spats affect public perceptions and political alliances. The podcast delves into the impact of their disinhibited online behaviors and the broader implications for the MAGA movement. With potential diplomatic efforts on the table, audiences are left pondering the future of this powerful duo.

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INSIGHT

Rapid Public Breakdown

The public breakdown between Trump and Musk escalated fast with mutual social media attacks.
Musk accused Trump of connections to Epstein without evidence, marking a sharp escalation in their feud.

INSIGHT

Musk's Provocative Style

Musk's followers are highly engaged with topics like government corruption and Epstein.
Musk's provocative posts are typical of his disinhibited style and often personal.

INSIGHT

Musk's Political Influence

Musk helped Trump reach nontraditional audiences through anti-woke messaging.
Trump supporters saw Musk as an outsider and sometimes a threat to their movement.

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How did one of the most powerful alliances in American politics blow up? The falling out between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has been playing out very publicly on social media, with back and forth insults and threats. Sarah Smith, Marianna Spring, Justin Webb and Anthony Zurcher unpack how the row intensified with Trump threatening to revoke Musk’s government contracts and Musk claiming, without evidence, that Trump appeared in the unreleased Epstein files. Musk also suggested that Trump should be impeached. But why does a row between the world’s richest person and one of the most powerful, the US president, matter to America and the rest of the world? And what impact could it have on the 2026 midterms?

HOSTS: * Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter * Sarah Smith, North America Editor * Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent * Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Senior Correspondent

GET IN TOUCH: * Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB * Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 * Email Americast@bbc.co.uk * Or use #Americast

This episode was made by Purvee Pattni, Alix Picikles, Rufus Gray, Grace Reeve and Tom Gillett. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.

Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm