Author: Alexander Panetta

It’s splitsville for a global power couple. Donald Trump and Elon Musk are tumbling into a messy public divorce, with unusual political fallout.Tension between the erstwhile Oval Office buds bubbled into open view Thursday, as they exchanged digs in public and on their own social media sites.It got ugly, quickly. Within hours, Musk appeared to call for Trump’s impeachment. Meanwhile, Tesla stock had plunged, as the market feared the president might punish Musk businesses.The official cause of the breakup between the world’s most powerful elected politician and its richest man was the hefty U.S. federal budget deficit.Musk has been disparaging the president’s signature budget bill since leaving his government role last week, fuming recently that the legislation will plunge the U.S. deeper into its debt hole. He called it “a disgusting abomination.”Trump and Musk in happier times: Here the billionaire jumps on stage in celebration at a Trump rally in Butler, Pa., months after Trump had survived an assassination attempt there.