If Elon Musk hopes to win back President Donald Trump’s favor, attacking his decision to pause new solar and wind projects probably isn’t the way to do it.
Trump announced the latest escalation of his long-running war on windmills on Wednesday, writing in a Truth Social tirade that he would ban all new solar and wind power projects—despite growing electricity demand across the country.
“Any State that has built and relied on WINDMILLS and SOLAR for power are seeing RECORD BREAKING INCREASES IN ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY COSTS,” he wrote. “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY! We will not approve wind or farmer-destroying Solar. The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!! MAGA.”
Just months after leaving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk pushed back on the president’s reasoning, writing on X that “solar is the only option that scales,” especially amid the ongoing AI boom.
Musk also amplified a post from another X user who called Trump’s move “short-sighted.”
Solar is the only option that scales
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 21, 2025
“This is absolutely short-sighted because solar is exponentially more scalable, unlike gas. So, once data center demand collides with turbine/transformer limits, solar wins on scalability. The US is shooting itself in the foot,” the post read. “The wind part I understand, but fading solar is crazy work.”
“Exactly,” Musk replied simply.
Exactly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 21, 2025
This isn’t the first time the former bros have gone head-to-head on policy.
After Musk’s status as a special government employee ended in late May, it didn’t take long for the contents of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill to reveal deep policy disagreements between the two. Musk opposed the bill, which is projected to balloon the national debt by $3.4 trillion over the next 10 years, for undermining his government-slashing work at DOGE.
That culminated in personal attacks, with Trump threatening the SpaceX founder’s government contracts and Musk firing back by claiming Trump’s name appeared in the so-called “Epstein files.”
Musk ultimately deleted the post, saying he had gone “too far.” Trump, when asked about Musk recently, told reporters he was a “good person” who had a “really bad moment.”
I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025
The president’s windmill woes are also nothing new. He’s been nursing a grudge against the structures for years, blaming them for everything from killing whales to causing cancer.
Just a day earlier, on Tuesday, Trump kicked off the morning with an all-caps rant about one of his favorite targets: New Jersey’s “STUPID AND UGLY WINDMILLS.” He suggested they were to blame for skyrocketing energy prices in the Garden State.
As usual, his loathing was misplaced: Those offshore wind projects never got built, and wind energy contributes nearly none of New Jersey’s total electricity, NJ.com reported.
The post Elon Musk Defends Donald Trump’s Biggest Nemesis: Windmills appeared first on The Daily Beast.
