Elon Musk’s billionaire status and polarizing image have earned him his fair share of enemies. Though his embarrassing attempts to look cool show he blindly believes he’s a popular and personable figure, ugly qualities like his inability to pay attention to his young son and rumored presidential takeover, among other controversial acts, have hurt the public’s perception of the Tesla CEO. Even if he’s still using his and President Donald Trump’s relationship to his advantage, it looks like some figures who theoretically should be in his camp also share unfavorable opinions of him.

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Through President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has worked to weed out unnecessary or ineffectual employees in the federal government. However, in his eyes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio hasn’t done his part to make his government corner as efficient as possible. Musk reportedly went for Rubio’s throat during a March 2025 cabinet meeting, per The New York Times, and scolded him for neglecting to trim down his staff. Rubio apparently fired back at Musk for lying. President Trump eventually came to Rubio’s defense, and promptly shut their quarrel down.

Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s bromance afforded the former an elevated position within the Republican Party. That doesn’t mean he isn’t without some Republican enemies, though. He reportedly had a hand in causing Vivek Ramaswamy’s departure from President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, per Politico, and former Trump senior counselor Steve Bannon disapproved of Musk’s personality and endeavors. “Musk is a parasitic illegal immigrant,” Bannon told UnHerd in February 2025. “He wants to impose his freak experiments and play-act as God without any respect for the country’s history, values or traditions.” Even Vice President JD Vance seems somewhat resentful of Musk, and took a not-so-subtle jab at President Trump after being pushed aside for the billionaire.

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The commander in chief also isn’t one to humor murmurings that his administration is clashing, however, and maintains that all is well within his circle. He particularly deflected questions about a potential Musk-Rubio feud in a March 7, 2025 clip posted on X. “You’re not supposed to be asking that question because we’re talking about the World Cup,” he said. Onlookers aren’t buying the president’s claims, however, and pointed to an incredulous smirk and glaring side-eye Rubio gave while Musk spoke in a March 8, 2025 X clip. “You can tell, Marco Rubio hates Elon Musk,” an X user wrote. “Who do you support in this cat fight?”