Elon Musk claims Donald Trump is 'in the Epstein files'

How did one of the most powerful alliances in American politics blow up?

The falling out between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has been playing out very publicly on social media, with back and forth insults and threats.

The BBC's Sarah Smith, Marianna Spring, Justin Webb and Anthony Zurcher unpack how the row intensified with Trump threatening to revoke Musk’s government contracts and Musk claiming, without evidence, that Trump appeared in the unreleased Epstein files.

He has since deleted the post and Epstein's lawyer has come out denying the accusations.

Musk has also suggested that Trump should be impeached.

But why does a row between the world’s richest person and one of the most powerful, the US president, matter to America and the rest of the world? And what impact could it have on the 2026 midterms?