Elon Musk reportedly escalated his public feud with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon this week, reportedly declaring that the conservative firebrand is headed “back to prison… for a long time,” in a social media post that sent shockwaves through the political world.
The remark came in response to a user referencing Bannon’s past call to nationalize SpaceX. Musk, CEO of the private space company and owner of the X platform, did not elaborate on the basis of his claim.
The two men, once aligned in their mutual support of President Donald Trump’s America First agenda, have grown increasingly adversarial as political tensions within the conservative movement deepen.
Bannon has already served four months in federal prison earlier this year for contempt of Congress after defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack.
He is also facing state-level charges in New York tied to the “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign, which prosecutors allege defrauded donors. A trial is expected later this year.
On his podcast, Bannon lashed out at Musk, accusing him of being an elitist tech mogul out of step with working-class Americans. He also questioned Musk’s American loyalty, referencing the billionaire’s South African roots and calling him “a globalist oligarch who owes this country nothing.”
Musk, for his part, has increasingly positioned himself as a political disruptor.
He has publicly criticized both major parties and recently floated the idea of supporting or forming a new political party after opposing a high-spending bipartisan bill championed by Trump.
Musk called the legislation reckless and warned that it jeopardizes America’s fiscal future.
Trump, in turn, has suggested launching investigations into Musk’s companies and raised the specter of using federal authority to “look into” the subsidies Musk’s businesses have received.
In a recent rally, he went so far as to joke about deporting Musk.
Despite the personal attacks, Musk has signaled a desire to de-escalate — at least for now. “So tempting to escalate this,” he wrote in a follow-up post. “But I will refrain.”
The exchange marks another fissure in the evolving realignment of the American right.
As Trump-aligned populists and libertarian-leaning tech figures jostle for influence, their personal and ideological clashes increasingly play out in public, offering a glimpse into a fractured conservative coalition ahead of 2026.
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