Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

Summary

WASHINGTON — An escalating feud between President Trump and Elon Musk June 5 included threats to cancel SpaceX contracts and decommission spacecraft, although those words have yet to become actions.In a heated exchange largely carried out on social media, Musk’s criticism of a budget reconciliation bill backed by Trump turned into full-fledged attacks on each other, less than a week after Musk ended his formal role in the administration as a “special government employee” overseeing the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency.That exchange included a threat by Trump to cancel government contracts with Musk’s companies, such as SpaceX. “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.While the comment did not specifically mention SpaceX, Musk appeared to interpret it as a threat to SpaceX. “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” he posted on his social media platform, X, about 90 minutes later. He didn’t elaborate on what would be involved in “decommissioning” Dragon.The back-and-forth between Musk and Trump raised fears that the White House might cut SpaceX off from its extensive work with NASA and the Defense Department, to the detriment of both the government and the company. It comes just months after many in the space industry worried that the then-close relationship between Musk and Trump might give SpaceX an unfair advantage.Any loss of federal contracts would have a significant effect on SpaceX. Musk, in a rare glimpse into SpaceX finances, said June 3 that SpaceX is projecting $15.5 billion in revenue in 2025, of which $1.1 billion would come from NASA contracts. He did not disclose the amount coming from defense work, which would include launches as well as Starlink services and developm...