Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele on MSNBC on June 5, 2025

President Donald Trump's intensifying public split with Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has some conservatives wondering about the future of the legislation that started it. But former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Michael Steele says the fight shows Republicans may have more to worry about.

During a Thursday segment on MSNBC, Steele said that the Musk-Trump feud was illuminating for both CEOs hoping to get into Trump's orbit, as well as for elected Republicans in Congress. He opined that for most corporate executives, the most alarming consequences of the spat was Tesla losing roughly $150 billion in value in one day due to its CEO falling out with the president of the United States.

"I think that that that is a fool's errand for them to think that somehow they're going to roll up on trump the way Elon Musk was," Steele said. "I think the lesson learned is not so much for them, but for Trump: That access port is going to be closed or very, very much controlled and tightened going forward."

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"At the end of the day, Elon Musk is learning a valuable lesson too," he continued. "Yeah, he dropped ... $288 million, whatever it was, got access to a lot of government information. But his market cap took a $150 billion hit today, which means he got some 'splaining to do to a whole lot of investors who lost a lot of money and are losing a lot of money."

The former RNC chair observed that for Republicans, there's a lingering question amid the Trump-Musk split: "Where do we go now?"

"Where do Republicans go? Because you've allowed yourselves to be cornered by both the cat and the dog, right? And so the cat's going to scratch you or eat you up if you if you vote the wrong way. And so will the dog," Steele said. "And so now, you know, [House Speaker] Mike Johnson's response today was sad and amusing at the same time with, 'oh, boy ... it's personal.' Maybe it's more than personal!"

"There are a lot of Americans that are caught now in this fight unnecessarily who've already paid a price. And that's going to be the next iteration of this conversation to be had," he added. "And it'll be interesting to see how Republicans line up in this battle between the billionaire who runs it all, and the guy who thinks he runs the country."

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Watch Steele's comments below, or by clicking this link.

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