Musk called for Trump's impeachment and accused him of having ties to Epstein. What the media is writing

Entrepreneur Elon Musk has finally destroyed friendly relations with US President Donald Trump. He called for the impeachment of the head of the White House and accused him of having ties with controversial financier Jeffrey Epstein. The Republican Party fears the financial and political consequences of this gap, while it may return to Russia the opportunity to launch American astronauts into space. What the media write about the scandal is in the Izvestia digest.

The Washington Post: The epic breakup of Trump and Musk's friendship

The alliance between Trump and Musk collapsed spectacularly when the brightest friendship in the world turned into mutual public trolling. For several months, while Musk was the president's constant companion and self-proclaimed "first buddy," the question remained relevant: how long could the duet of two men accustomed to solo on the central stage last. The angry exchanges on June 5 gave the final answer.

The public discussion began at the White House, where Trump spoke to reporters at the beginning of a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The quarrel quickly broke out, and the two men began exchanging angry posts on their social networks. Musk wrote that he agrees with the need to impeach Trump and replace him with Vice President J. D. Vance. He also warned that Trump's tariffs would cause a recession in the second half of the year, and asked his 220 million subscribers if it was time to "create a new political party in America that will actually represent 80% in the middle."

CNN: Musk accused Trump of having ties with Epstein

In one of his posts, Musk directly pointed out Trump's connection with controversial financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of organizing prostitution and convicted of raping a minor. Several people familiar with what was going on behind the scenes of their quarrel described it as a turning point, after which it was no longer worth waiting for their reconciliation.

Previously, Trump and Musk mostly argued about politics, but now the dispute has moved to a personal level. Musk did not specify how he could have gained access to unpublished files related to Epstein, and did not provide any evidence of where this information came from. It is assumed that Epstein's files indicate his connections with many celebrities who were involved in his criminal activities.

Bloomberg: Musk made it clear that he wants to cool the conflict

Musk made it clear that he still wants to take measures to reduce tensions with Trump after their differences escalated into a full-scale public feud. After the call for impeachment and accusations of ties to Epstein, followed by Trump's proposal to cut Musk's government contracts, Tesla shares collapsed by 14%, and Musk's personal fortune decreased by $34 billion.

In response to another user who called for "cooling off and taking a step back for a couple of days," Musk said, "Good advice." White House aides scheduled a phone conversation between Trump and Musk on June 6 to try to reduce tensions. The public appearance provoked a new torrent of criticism from Trump's longtime supporters, who greeted Musk's statements with irritation.

NBC News: Republicans are nervous about the Trump-Musk skirmish

Republican lawmakers are very worried about the quarrel between Trump and Musk, as their seats in Congress will be under threat if Musk tries to remove them from power in the midterm elections next year. There was a clear message among them: Republicans should be wary of getting into an argument, which is not an easy task.

A few months ago, Musk promised that he would invest $100 million in political projects related to Trump. That money never arrived and now it won't arrive, Musk's adviser said. Republicans should be afraid that huge sums will be used against them if they vote for Trump's budget bill, which has attracted criticism from Musk. This has given some of Trump's opponents hope that his program will collapse under the weight of Musk's threats.

Force majeure: Musk and Trump publicly quarreled on social networks

The billionaire supported the idea of impeachment of the president

Associated Press: Musk scandal pushes the US towards Russian space rockets

While Trump and Musk were arguing on social media, the world's richest man threatened to decommission the Dragon spacecraft used to deliver astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). It's unclear how serious Musk's threat was. But a ship developed with the help of government contracts is an important part of keeping the ISS running. NASA is also heavily dependent on Musk's SpaceX for other programs, including launching science missions and returning to the lunar surface.

With its first crew launch for NASA in 2020, the first orbital flight of a private company's crew, SpaceX has enabled the United States to reduce its dependence on Russia for crew transportation. Russian flights have cost tens of millions of dollars per seat for many years. NASA also used Russian spacecraft to transport cargo together with the American contractor Northrup Grumman.