Elon Turns on Trump? 'First Buddy' Musk Slams $500Billion 'StarGate' Deal Despite President's Support for New Project – 'They Don't Have the Money!'
Elon Musk is not on the same page with Donald Trump.
Jan. 22 2025, Published 5:15 p.m. ET
There may be trouble brewing in paradise already for Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.
The Tesla billionaire made his thoughts clear on the new $500billion "Stargate" project, bashing the deal despite Trump being all about it, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Musk isn't happy about the new 'StarGate' project Trump recently announced.
Trump recently announced a huge AI infrastructure investment from the White House – an investment that will help created a new company, called Stargate, to grow artificial intelligence infrastructure in America.
Leaders from companies SoftBank, Oracle, and OpenAI were right next to the controversial president when the announcement was made, as all three will look to invest $100billion into the project to start.
The hope is up to $500billion will be invested by the companies into the project in the next couple of years. However, Musk doesn't believe a word of it.
Up to $500billion is expected to be invested in the AI infrastructure by three companies.
The 53-year-old was quick to take to his own platform, X, to complain about the deal: "They don’t actually have the money. SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”
Users noted Musk's rare disagreement with Trump, as one person responded: "It didn’t take long. First buddy Elon and Musk have fallen out over AI announcement..."
Another added: "Musk is now criticizing Trump's AI project Stargate. It seems like the honeymoon is over," and one said, "Elon Musk is big mad he’s not in on the Stargate project. So he’s basically calling Donald Trump a liar?"
'They don’t actually have the money,' Musk tweeted after Trump announced the project.
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, also hit back at Musk's claims: "Wrong, as you surely know. Want to come visit the first site under way? This is great for the country.
"I realize what is great for the country isn't always what's optimal for your companies, but in your new role I hope you'll mostly put (America) first."
The two entrepreneurs cofounded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk walked away just three years later – and the two have been at one another ever since.
In December 2024, during an appearance on the Bari Weiss podcast, Altman praised Musk, while also taking a shot at him.
He said at the time: "I don’t live inside Elon’s head, so this is a little bit of a speculation. Elon definitely did a lot to help OpenAI in the early days, and in spite of all this, I’m very grateful. And I think he’s just a sort of legendary entrepreneur.
"He’s also clearly a bully, and he’s also someone who clearly likes to get in fights. Right now, it’s me. It’s been (Jeff) Bezos, (Bill) Gates, (Mark) Zuckerberg, lots of other people.
"And I think fundamentally, this is about OpenAI doing really well. Elon cares about doing really well. Elon started, and now runs, a very direct competitor that’s trying to do exactly what OpenAI does. Everything we’re doing, I believe Elon would be happy about if he were in control of the company."
Musk has been known as Trump's 'First Buddy.'
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Meanwhile, Musk is already shaking up Trump's inner circle as he is also accused of pushing colleague and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy out of a cushy new government job.
In November, Trump selected Musk and Ramaswamy to run the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The duo were tasked with possibly cutting trillions in government waste.
However, Ramaswamy reportedly stepped down from the role to run for governor of Ohio, despite sources claiming it was all because of Musk.
Before stepping down, Ramaswamy sent out a tweet that contended companies hire foreign workers because America prioritizes "mediocrity over excellence" leading to a nation that does "not produce the best engineers," and also leading to plenty of backlash.
Insiders claim this caused a rift between Ramaswamy and Musk.
A Republican strategist close to Trump told Politico Ramaswamy "burned through the bridges and he finally burned Elon. Everyone wanted him out of Mar-a-Lago, out of D.C."
