Washington — The relationship between President Trump and Elon Musk broke down in dramatic and public fashion on Thursday, with the president threatening to cancel Musk's lucrative government contracts and Musk claiming that Mr. Trump could not have won the presidency without him, fueling a feud that erupted over Musk's opposition to Republicans' tax and budget bill.

In the afternoon, Musk dropped what he called "the really big bomb," alleging that Mr. Trump's name appeared in the files related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein , the disgraced financier who died by suicide in federal custody in 2019 while facing charges of sex trafficking. "@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public," Musk wrote on X . "Have a nice day, DJT!"

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