Trump Turns on Musk: Stocks That Could Soar as Tesla and SpaceX Take a Hit

Editor’s Note: Illegal tariffs, steel taxes, court rulings… Now Trump and Musk going head-to-head in fiery spats on the world’s stage. 

The headlines scream about skirmishes. But this week’s “Being Exponential” unpacks the noise to reveal the signal underneath… 

Because while D.C. weighs tariffs, a much bigger transformation is unfolding at lightspeed: in the labs, factories, and data centers building the future.

We dissect the Q1 GDP pullback and why markets stalled – even as Nvidia (NVDA) posted jaw-dropping numbers. And we spotlight the tech megatrends you can’t afford to ignore: humanoid robots, quantum breakthroughs, and, yes, flying cars.

Forget the geopolitical tantrums. The bigger story is exponential: machines learning to reason, move, and fly.

If you’re hunting for the next 10x opportunity, this episode breaks down what matters, what doesn’t, and where the smart capital is heading next.

Listen now.

Not long ago, U.S. President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk were deep in their political honeymoon phase. 

Trump was publicly praising Musk’s Tesla (TSLA). Musk was showing major support for Trump’s economic agenda, praising Trump-era tax reforms, advocating for reduced regulatory burdens, and emphasizing the importance of U.S.-based manufacturing. 

Rumors even swirled about backroom deals: protection for EV subsidies, fast-tracked robotaxi launches, government contracts funneled toward SpaceX and Starlink. 

And investors took note. Tesla stock and the Destiny Tech100 (DXYZ) fund – an ETF with a stake in SpaceX – both surged. 

But after this week’s fiery social media battle?

It seems likely that the bromance is over – bridges burned. 

Trump and Musk have been trading public blows normally reserved for the worst of enemies. Trump has called Musk ‘ungrateful,’ saying he went ‘crazy’ and hinting at punitive action against his companies. Musk, meanwhile, is mocking Trump’s flagship bill, suggesting Trump is part of the Epstein files, and retweeting calls to impeach him. 

This is a full-scale political divorce with billions of dollars in market cap hanging in the balance.

While the media focuses on the soap opera – and let’s be honest, it’s quite entertaining – we’re more concentrated on this fallout’s financial consequences… 

Because this may be one of those rare moments when political chaos creates a powerful asymmetric investment opportunity.

Why Trump’s Turn on Musk Is a Big Deal for Investors

Given Trump’s first term was marked by aggressive deregulation, corporate tax cuts, and emphasis on American manufacturing, markets assumed that a second term would be good for Elon Musk. 

That assumption powered massive gains in TSLA, as investors believed Trump would protect domestic EVs, fast-track robotaxis, and go soft on regulation. Similarly, DXYZ – the pre-IPO fund that holds SpaceX – soared on the idea that the president would keep feeding SpaceX juicy government launches and Starlink contracts.

But now that entire narrative is under siege. In fact, it has made a complete 180.

If Trump follows through on his social media threats against Musk – and history suggests he will – we could see:

• An EV subsidy rollback, which would tank margins across Tesla’s core product line
• Regulatory delays or legal action against Tesla’s robotaxi launch, especially in politically charged states like Texas or Florida
• A shift away from SpaceX in DoD and NASA launch contracts
• A freeze or reduction in Starlink’s government integration, particularly in defense and telecom resilience projects.

This assumption is based on plain pattern recognition. As we’ve seen many times before, Trump rewards loyalty and punishes dissent. 

He’s issued pardons or commutations for loyalists like Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, and Steve Bannon, all of whom either refused to testify against him or stayed loyal despite legal trouble.

Often, he has elevated those known for personal loyalty over traditional qualifications, such as appointing Mark Meadows as Chief of Staff and Ric Grenell as acting Director of National Intelligence.

He has also dismissed people who have contradicted or criticized him openly, including James Comey of the FBI, Alexander Vindman of the NSC, and cybersecurity personnel Chris Krebs, who defended the integrity of the 2020 election.

Now Musk has publicly defected.

And Trump won’t respond lightly. 

Which Stocks Could Win Amid This Political Divorce

So… what happens when the most dominant company in not one but two innovative industries – autonomous vehicles and commercial space – gets politically kneecapped?

Competitors rejoice.

And that’s where we see opportunity emerging. (Forget EVs; they’ll get bruised because Trump will likely kneecap the whole sector by removing subsidies entirely.)  

The true winners are in AVs and space. That’s where Trump could personally hurt Tesla and SpaceX by giving competitors a leg up. 

On that note, let’s talk AVs… 

Musk has pinned Tesla’s future on autonomy. He wants all of the company’s vehicles to be fully self-driving. And further, he wants to launch a global autonomous robotaxi service within the next several years, making Tesla the epicenter of the Autonomous Vehicle Revolution. 

That future requires regulatory approval… 

More or less, it requires Trump’s blessing. 

Autonomous cars can’t operate on roads with human cargo unless they have strong regulatory approval. And Trump can make it very difficult for Tesla to get that approval. 

That would be a huge win for Tesla’s AV competitors, since many already have regulatory approval and are operating on roads across California, Texas, and Florida. If those firms keep growing and expanding while Tesla remains stymied in regulatory red tape, then those competitors could run away with the AV race…