"Trump's Name in Epstein Files," Accusations Fly
Clash Between Titans... Bitcoin, Tesla, and Others Decline
The relationship between U.S. President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, once dubbed a "bromance" (brother + romance), has not only ended but is now showing signs of total breakdown, causing ripples in the economy.
On October 5 last year, at a campaign event held in Butler, Pennsylvania, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (right) is patting the shoulder of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. Photo by AP and Yonhap News
On June 5 (local time), Musk quoted a post by conservative political commentator Ian Miles Cheong on X (formerly Twitter), which stated "Trump should be impeached," and responded "Yes," adding, "A recession is expected in the second half of the year due to tariffs." In his post, Ian Miles Cheong wrote, "President vs. Elon, who wins?" and continued, "My money is on Elon, Trump should be impeached, and JD Vance (U.S. Vice President) should replace Trump."
In another new post, Musk said, "It's time to drop a big bombshell," and claimed, "Trump is in the 'Epstein files,' and that's the real reason the files aren't being released." The "Epstein files" refer to documents related to the sex crime case of Jeffrey Epstein, a financier. Between 2001 and 2006, Epstein committed sex crimes, including forcing sexual acts on at least 36 identified minors. The case implicated prominent figures in politics and business, and Musk appears to be asserting that "Trump is also involved."
Previously, President Trump, during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, expressed that he was "very disappointed" with Musk for publicly opposing legislation reflecting his tax cuts and other policy agendas. In response, Musk reacted strongly to Trump's claim that he could have won the swing state of Pennsylvania in the last presidential election without Musk's help, emphasizing in a comment on the video of Trump's remarks, "If it weren't for me, Trump would have lost the election, Democrats would have taken the House, and Republicans would have ended up 51 to 49 in the Senate."
The collapse of the relationship between these two "pro-cryptocurrency moguls" has also negatively affected the market. On the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, as of 4:40 p.m. Eastern Time that day, the price of Bitcoin per coin was $100,949, down 3.447% from 24 hours earlier, threatening the $100,000 mark. Dogecoin, known as Musk's coin, fell 9.48% to $0.17, and the Trump meme coin Official Trump plummeted 10.88% to $9.57.
On the New York Stock Exchange that day, Tesla's stock price plunged, with $152 billion in market capitalization (about 206 trillion won) wiped out by the closing price. The New York Stock Exchange, which had been strong in the morning after news of a phone call between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, also ended lower. On the same day, Politico reported that White House aides had scheduled a phone call between the two men on June 6 to mediate a reconciliation.
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