Insiders Reportedly Say Tesla-SpaceX Merger Must Be Closed Before Trump Leaves Office

Elon Musk says Tesla and SpaceX are officially exploring a world-historic merger. The move would concentrate Musk’s corporate power into a single super-corporation and potentially function as a loophole that would net him compensation worth around $1 trillion. But an anonymous Bloomberg article claims that Musk, or someone involved in the merger, believes time is running out and that Musk should complete the merger of these companies before the end of Donald Trump’s presidential term.

Tesla and SpaceX did not respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment on this supposed timing issue. They also did not respond to Gizmodo’s question on the same topic.

And it’s worth reading Bloomberg’s exact wording, which is a bit opaque:

“As Trump approaches the second half of his final term and market jitters threaten the exuberance that underpins Musk’s empire, there is pressure to announce a deal by the first half of 2027 to be completed under this administration, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Aside from the fact that Democrats might do things in the markets that might dampen the “exuberance” – with their Democratic vibe, I suppose – it’s not clear what the problem would be. But one obvious problem in blocking a merger is antitrust laws. Spacesla (or whatever it’s called) would bring together two companies whose AI interests are already intertwined. They are both investors in chip factory Terafab AI, and Tesla was an investor in xAI before it was owned by SpaceX. But does anyone view the two companies as AI competitors whose consolidation would give AI customers a bad deal?

On the other hand, an article in Politico yesterday goes some way to explaining what — aside from a possible breach of trust — would be so terrible for this merger if Democrats had more power. They would be eager to make Musk’s life a little more difficult if they win at least one chamber of Congress in the midterms. Alleged conflicts related to SpaceX and Tesla appear to be on their minds, as are Musk’s federal budget cuts in the DOGE era.

On Wednesday, Musk responded to this Politico article on X with almost literal sabre-rattling. He said, “Live by the sword, die by the sword,” and added, “Those who fight with me must understand that I will find out who is really pulling the strings and come for them, not just their puppets.” »

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Those who argue with me need to understand that I will find out who is really pulling the strings and come after them, not just their puppets… https://t.co/L7xNa6yCm0

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2026

One issue Democrats, or any other political adversary, could latch on to is Tesla’s massive operation in China, according to a research note released Wednesday by JPMorgan, reviewed by Benzinga. This country represents around 20% of the automaker’s revenues. If Tesla were the same company as SpaceX – a major defense contractor and operator of Starlink, which is illegal in China – that could present tricky regulatory hurdles. But as a remedy, JPMorgan suggests that Tesla China could be transferred to a consortium of Chinese companies, like TikTok US in reverse.

But the story told by Bloomberg’s anonymous sources may be more revealing than they intend. By not specifying which vulnerabilities Democrats are supposed to discover and exploit, Musk may simply think that Democrats will try to put the things he wants out of reach, whatever they may be. And that hints at just how much Musk might want this merger.