Build-Up to a Meltdown

How the Trump-Musk alliance collapsed

- Tyler Pager, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, Theodore Schleifer and Ryan Mac

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump was peeved. Just minutes before he walked into the Oval Office for a televised send-off for Mr. Elon Musk last week, an aide had handed him a file.

The papers showed that Mr. Trump's nominee to run NASA — a close associate of Mr. Musk's — had donated to prominent Democrats in recent years, including some whom Mr. Trump was learning about for the first time.

The President set his outrage aside and mustered through a cordial public farewell. But as soon as the cameras left the Oval Office, he confronted Mr. Musk. He started to read some of the donations out loud, shaking his head.

“This was not good,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Musk, who was sporting a black eye that he blamed on a punch from his young son, tried to explain. He said Mr. Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur who was set to become the next NASA administrator, cared about getting things done. Yes, he had donated to Democrats, but so had a lot of people.

“Maybe it’s a good thing,” Mr. Musk told the President — “it shows that you’re willing to hire people of all stripes.”

But Mr. Trump was unmoved. He said that people don’t change. “These are the types of people who will turn,” he said, “and it won’t end up being good for us.”

The moment of pique was a signal of the simmering tensions between the two men that would explode into the open less than a week later, upending what had been one of the most extraordinary alliances in American politics.

This account of the crumbling ties between the President and the billionaire head of Tesla and SpaceX is based on interviews with 13 people with direct knowledge of the events, all of whom asked for anonymity to describe private discussions.

While the relationship had been losing steam over the past several months as Mr. Musk clashed with Trump officials, people close to both men said the disagreement over Mr. Isaacman accelerated the break-up.