Musk orders SpaceX to decommission Dragon spacecraft over feud with Trump

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Thursday ordered his aerospace company to immediately decommission its Dragon capsule, which NASA uses to service the International Space Station, amid a public feud with President Donald Trump.

The cancellation is retaliation for Trump's proposal to end government contracts and subsidies it has with Musk's companies in order to balance the federal budget.

The feud between the former allies escalated in the past 48 hours after Musk publicly slammed the president's "big, beautiful bill" as a "disgusting abomination" for its failure to address deficit spending. Musk first started the fight last week when leaving public service. 

"In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately," Musk posted to X on Thursday afternoon.

The decommissioning could throw a serious wrench in the administration's plans and capability to send astronauts and equipment to and from the space station. The capsule is considered the only "spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth."

NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens reassured the public that the space agency was still devoted to Trump's vision for space, and will work with other "industry partners to ensure the President’s objectives in space are met.”

Thursday afternoon, Trump appeared to attempt to deescalate the feud. 

"I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago," Trump posted. "This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn’t pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.