In a dramatic reversal that highlighted the volatility of the public feud between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, the SpaceX CEO walked back a threat to immediately decommission the Dragon spacecraft, a crucial vehicle in America’s spaceflight program.
The tit-for-tat started Thursday morning when Trump posted on Truth Social that cutting off Musk’s federal subsidies and government contracts would save the country “Billions and Billions of Dollars.”
“I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it,” the president wrote.
Musk’s response was swift and incendiary.
“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” he posted to X (formerly Twitter).
The Dragon spacecraft has long been the workhorse for ferrying astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Crew and Commercial Resupply Services programs. Shutting it down could wreak havoc on American space missions and delay U.S. plans for continued lunar and Mars exploration.
In response to the announcement, NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens offered a steadying note, saying the agency remained committed to the president’s objectives.
“NASA will continue to execute upon the President’s vision for the future of space. We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the President’s objectives in space are met,” Stevens said.
But the conflict took an unexpected turn just hours later. Amid the online firestorm, a post from an X user, @Fab25june, appeared to resonate with Musk.
“This is a shame this back and forth. You are both better than this. Cool off and take a step back for a couple days,” the user wrote.
Musk replied with a surprisingly conciliatory tone:
“Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”
The drama seemed to be on course for de-escalation, with reports that the two leaders were planning a phone call to mend fences. But President Trump slammed that door shut Friday morning during a press gaggle.
“You mean the man who has lost his mind?” Trump said when asked about the call. “Not particularly,” he added when asked if he was interested in speaking to Musk.
The feud between two of the world’s most powerful men — one the president, the other a billionaire tech titan embedded deep in America’s technological and aerospace infrastructure — is no mere celebrity spat. Musk’s SpaceX holds billions in federal contracts and plays a critical role in U.S. national security and space exploration. Any breakdown in that relationship has immediate implications for everything from orbital logistics to America’s strategic edge in the skies.
Musk’s initial threat to pull the plug on Dragon — even if temporary — laid bare the precariousness of having private industry so tightly woven into the fabric of national defense and spaceflight. That such a critical system can be thrown into chaos by a personal feud signals a potential structural vulnerability in the U.S. space program.
