Musk's brother drops R-word in explosive rant over Trump's tariffs: Could this strain Elon's ties with POTUS?

Kimbal Musk, younger brother of billionaire Elon Musk, publicly lambasted former President Donald Trump’s latest tariff proposals on Monday with an “R-word.”

With a series of posts on X, Kimbal that Trump’s trade agenda enforcing a “structural, permanent tax on the American consumer.”

“Even if he is successful in bringing jobs on shore through the tariff tax, prices will remain high and the tax on consumption will remain the form of higher prices because we are simply not as good at making all things. A tax on consumption also means less consumption. Which means less jobs. Which in turn leads to less consumption. And then even less jobs,” Kimbal wrote.

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Kimbal mocks Trump as the ‘most high-tax American President in generations’

Labeling Trump “the most high-tax American President in generations,” Kimbal cited, “America has incredible strengths. We should play to those strengths, and not be forced to play to our weaknesses. Same with the rest of the world.”

Notably, the POTUS insisted that several countries were already signalling interest in renegotiating trade terms with the U.S. “Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow-moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place,” he posted.

Highlighting that, the younger Musk responded, “Mmm.. Celebrating causing China's stock market to go down, by causing our own stock market to go down? Maybe this is why Trump brought back the R word.”

Who is Kimbal Musk? Elon's younger brother

Kimbal Musk co-founded The Kitchen Restaurant Group and nonprofit organizations such as Big Green and Square Roots. He has also served on the boards of Tesla and SpaceX. However, he sold $27 million in Tesla stock last month amid mounting financial pressures at the EV giant.

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Interestingly, on the same day, Tesla boss posted a clip of economist Milton Friedman discussing the economic benefits of free trade. The video shows how open markets and international cooperation improve quality of life and was widely interpreted as a thinly veiled jab at Trump’s tariff plans.

Elon’s post came just hours after reports surfaced that he had criticized one of Trump’s top trade advisors and advocated for a “tariff-free” approach to international trade. The Tesla founder, who has lost over $11 billion in net worth since the tariff news broke, may be feeling the direct consequences of these policies.