Elon Musk and Donald Trump have been attached at the hip since Trump’s election period, but recently, they have been at each other’s throats on Twitter (*shudders* now called X).
Their relationship took a massive turn when Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed in June 2025. The bill combines large tax cuts, spending boosts (for border security, defence and more), Medicaid reductions, and repealing clean energy and electric vehicle credits, which has caused the national deficit to increase by $3 trillion. Musk went to X to air his grievances, describing the bill as a “disgusting abomination” and encouraging people to urge Congress to block the bill. In turn, this caused Trump (once again via X) to threaten to cancel the federal contracts and grants received by Musk’s companies. When SpaceX contracts were charged with federal review, Musk warned that he would increase SpaceX’s international relations and pull out of upcoming Artemis missions.
This feud has brought many recent space-science decisions to the front of the media and public attention. What contracts and finances need to be reviewed? And how does one man have the power to risk the future of entire space missions?
The 2026 budget bill deals with the exploration of the moon and Mars (known as the Artemis program). It allots $7 billion for the return to the moon and $1 billion for humans going to Mars. This further cancels out the Orion space capsule, the Space Launch System post Artemis III lunar landing mission, and the lunar gateway space station. Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin would work on projects for lunar missions via commercial systems instead of being funded by the government.
Unfortunately, this bill does not make NASA a priority, even though it’s a government agency. The budget cuts, which total $3.6 billion, led to the elimination of several NASA programs for both Earth and Space. These cuts have also had negative consequences on climate monitoring systems and the Mars Sample Return mission, which is set to bring back rocks and soil from Mars in the 2030s (although it’s important to note that this mission was put on hold by Biden due to delays and cost). And more space missions, like Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the DAVINCI Venus probe, the Veritas Venus mapper, and the TESS planet hunter, may be cancelled in the future, depending on budget, according to the Planetary Society. The heavy punches rained on NASA’s space department have also led to the US falling behind in the space exploration race.
On a further note, the only budget increase (of $1 billion) was observed in Mars-based exploration programs. This may provide the formation of a strong Mars COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) program, starting with cargo missions and then moving on to crewed missions. Critics see this as a gift for Musk, but it is beneficial to any American company that wants to work on Mars projects like Rocket Lab and Impulse Space.
The Trump-Musk feud has exposed America’s fragile science sectors. NASA, once at the forefront of discovery and innovation in the world of science, is now surrounded by politics, billionaires and budget cuts. Unfortunately, political grudges influence billion-dollar space decisions in America. While the One Big Beautiful Bill contains a bold move in the path of Mars exploration, it comes at the cost of Earth science, international trust and cutting decades of collaborative progress.
