Former President Joe Biden criticized President Donald Trump and Elon Musk during his first post-presidency speech, targeting their efforts to destabilize Social Security. He asked "Who in the hell do they think they are?" and accused them of creating "needless pain and sleepless nights". Without mentioning Trump or Musk directly, he quoted Martin O'Malley saying that they want to "wreck" Social Security so they can "rob it" to deliver huge tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations.

Elon Musk admitted that his work as head honcho of Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has taken a toll on him, saying he has "at times" been digging his own grave better than his enemies do. However, he attributed his poor approval ratings to having a political propaganda war waged against him with almost no countervailing campaign. According to pollster Nate Silver’s tracker, Musk's net favorability rating is -13.8%, while Trump's is -5.1%.

Elon Musk escalated his disagreement with Peter Navarro, Trump’s senior adviser for trade and manufacturing, over international tariffs. Musk shared comments from conservative pundit Scott Jennings, who praised Musk and criticized Navarro's attacks on Tesla. Musk suggested that his business expertise should be taken more seriously than Navarro's, implying a clash between their opposing views on global trade.

Elon Musk publicly criticized President Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro after Navarro called Tesla a "car assembler" that relies heavily on foreign-made parts. Navarro stated that Tesla requires parts manufactured in China, Japan, and Taiwan, which led Musk to respond angrily on Twitter. Musk called Navarro a "moron" and shared a study from Cars.com that shows Tesla as having four of the top 10 most American-made cars.