Musk and Trump feud on X

FOR almost a year, Elon Musk marshaled the full force of X, his $45 billion (R800bn) social media platform, to boost Donald Trump’s political fortunes and second presidency.

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This week, as the two men publicly fought in a flurry of furious online posts, Musk revealed X to be a double-edged sword.

Musk spent hours firing off mocking memes, curt put-downs and explosive allegations to his 220 million followers on Thursday, just as he did during Trump’s candidacy and as a member of his administration. Only this time, the target was Trump himself, not the president's critics.

The attack deployed tactics familiar from Musk’s many previous online battles. He dredged up old Trump tweets to suggest hypocrisy. He amplified posts from others critical of Trump. He accused the president of “an obvious lie” about the cause of their falling-out and blasted him for “ingratitude” for Musk’s political support, claiming that “without me, Trump would have lost the election.”

As Trump lobbed disparaging posts back from his own social media platform, Truth Social, Musk also turned to a tactic he has used against others who have crossed him: insinuations of personal scandal.

“Time to drop the really big bomb,” Musk posted. Trump “is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”

The tech mogul’s about-face sent shock waves through X, the social network formerly known at Twitter that Musk acquired in 2022. His attack on Trump tested the loyalty of politicians and influencers active on the site, who scrambled to choose sides.

And it set up a titanic political battle for the attention era: A pair of very online billionaires duking it out in public, each with his own social network and millions of acolytes ready to amplify his every post.

Thursday’s online drama underscored that while Musk’s stewardship of X made it into a powerful tool for his allies and the conservative movement, he feels free to wrench it in whatever new direction he pleases.