DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:
Elon Musk may be done as a special government employee, but many of the billionaire's businesses still have massive federal contracts, contracts that could be in jeopardy after this week's nasty falling out with President Trump. NPR's Stephen Fowler joins us now to help unpack the complicated relationship - complicated, to say the least. Hey, Stephen.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Good morning.
ELLIOTT: So when President Trump and Musk were lobbing attacks back and forth Thursday on social media, both of them mentioned the possibility of canceling these contracts. When it comes to Musk's businesses, just how big of a customer is the federal government?
FOWLER: So the main company we're talking about here is SpaceX. It's got big contracts with NASA for things, including the Dragon capsule. That's what astronauts use to get to and from the International Space Station. Tesla - Musk's auto company - made it through tough financial times early on thanks to low-interest loans from the Energy Department. It's earned billions of dollars in regulatory credits for the electric vehicle industry. SpaceX's Starlink satellite network has become key part of the government's expansion of internet access across the country, and there's a ton of military and intelligence spending we don't know the full scope of because it's classified. But, Debbie, in all, Musk's businesses have received tens of billions of dollars in public support that we know about from those things like contracts and low-interest loans and tax breaks.
ELLIOTT: So what would be some of the ramifications if either side does dial back on this partnership?
FOWLER: Well, in the middle of that social media spat on Thursday, Trump threatened to end Musk's contracts. Musk threatened to decommission the Dragon capsule. But either one of those actions would seriously cripple both Musk's companies and the federal government. I mean, the government subsidy piece is a big part of Musk's wealth that, in turn, allowed him to buy social media site X and donate about a quarter billion dollars to help send Trump to the Oval Office last year. So cutting that off would be a huge blow to Musk's financial empire and future influence, even though he says he's not really doing that much anymore. But also Musk's companies are playing crucial roles in parts of how the government functions. Case in point, our colleague Geoff Brumfiel has pointed out more than 80% of everything that went into space last year did it aboard a SpaceX rocket.
ELLIOTT: Now, is it possible that Trump and Musk bury the hatchet to keep things running smoothly?
FOWLER: After the fireworks online Thursday, it's largely been all quiet on the social media front since then. I mean, Trump has done a number of phone interviews, saying that he's basically moving on from Musk and has no plans to talk to him anytime soon. Musk has largely kept things quiet, too, posting about his companies and how great they are, which is a more pressing concern for him, seeing how Tesla stock prices have dropped this year, mainly because of Musk's role in federal government. That was with DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting effort that has led to a lot of chaos within the government and a lot of backlash to Musk, the businessman. And President Trump told reporters on Air Force One yesterday that, quote, "we'll take a look at everything" when it comes to the contracts, and he didn't have any plans to smooth things over. Trump also added that he's occupied with other, quote, "problems in faraway lands."
ELLIOTT: I mean, certainly, both the president and Elon Musk have more important things to attend to. But I'd like us to back up a little bit. What was the root of this blowup?
FOWLER: Well, there are definitely larger concerns when you talk about the genesis of this fight. Trump's one big, beautiful bill, chock-full of his agenda items, including tax cuts and including increased deficit spending. It's facing challenges from Republicans in both chambers that expressed skepticism about different parts of it. The increase in deficit spending, in particular, is a hang-up, and that's even before Elon Musk started posting about this. While Musk has seen his way out of Trump's inner circle over the last few weeks, he still does have a lot of sway with the online discourse about politics, thanks to his social media site, X.
ELLIOTT: That's NPR's Stephen Fowler. Thanks so much.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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