Elon Musk went on a furious posting spree in response into a damning profile detailing his diminishing influence in the White House.
On Wednesday, The Atlantic published a piece with the headline “The Decline and Fall of Elon Musk,” describing how the Tesla boss isolated himself within the Trump administration while leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The profile claims Musk has started to scale back his involvement in Washington after months of “irritating” the very people he was meant to help with his federal cost-cutting mandate.
The Atlantic’s article opens with a blistering series of profanities that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent allegedly screamed at Musk during a West Wing altercation in the White House in April.
“F— you! F— you! F— you!” Bessent reportedly yelled at Musk during a heated disagreement over who should get to pick the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Daily Beast has contacted the Treasury Department for comment.
A defiant Musk showed just how little he cared about the story in the only way he knows how: by posting about it repeatedly over the course several hours.
In one X post, this time to rip, Musk shared a screengrab of the article headline with a crying emoji.
Hours later, Musk replied to one post attacking The Atlantic stating: “They are the past, the legacy media fading into obscurity.”
Conservative media personality Meghan Kelly was one of those who defended Musk, writing: “If his life is in ‘decline,’ sign me up for decline.”
In one reply to Kelly’s post, Musk replied: “lmao.” Later on, Musk added: “The Atlantic is a zombie publication kept on life support” by its majority owner, Laurene Powell Jobs.
“Steve would be very disappointed,” Musk added, apparently in reference to her late husband, Apple founder Steve Jobs.
Musk continued to use Steve Jobs’ death to mock The Atlantic in other posts. One account suggested Jobs is “probably haunting laurene” for letting the magazine “rot,” adding “ghosted harder than the Atlantic’s readership lol.”
Musk then boosted the remarks to his nearly 220 million X followers by replying with a bullseye and crying laughing emoji.
Elsewhere, The Atlantic detailed how far Musk has drifted from Trump’s inner circle, despite once being arguably the most influential voice in the president’s ear.
Though Musk was always scheduled to leave the administration by the end of May as his role as a “special government employee” requires him to step down after 130 days, a series of setbacks may have accelerated his exit.
This included an embarrassing defeat in the Wisconsin state Supreme Court election, where Musk pumped millions of dollars endorsing conservative Brad Schimel, only for Schimel to lose to liberal candidate Susan Crawford by 10 points.
The loss—paired with polling showing Musk being widely disliked by the public—has been seized on by Musk’s critics as evidence of the billionaire’s political toxicity.
Musk’s knack for riling up Cabinet members and federal employees also reportedly contributed to him being shown the door.
One unnamed Trump adviser told The Atlantic that many had already begun ignoring Musk’s chaotic demands and are relieved to see him go.
“How many people were fired because they didn’t send in their three things a week or whatever the f— it was?” they said. “I think everyone’s ready to move on from this part of the administration.”
The White House did not address a Daily Beast inquiry about the reported clash between Musk and Bessent, instead sharing a statement from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that DOGE’s mission “to cut waste, fraud, and abuse” will “surely continue.”
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