Amid a growing public spat between the Commander-in-Chief and the richest man in the world, US President Donald Trump has stated that the “easiest way” for the government to save money would be to “terminate” contracts and subsidies going to billionaire and former adviser Elon Musk.
Trump posted on his own social media network, Truth Social, on Thursday, saying, “Cancelling Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts is the easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars.”
The US president remarked, “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Trump threatened Musk after the billionaire gave more than $250 million to help elect the US president last year, accusing him of “ingratitude” and claiming he would have lost the race without him.
Trump stated minutes earlier that Musk “just went CRAZY!” and that he had asked Musk to leave the White House.
“Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY,” stated the president. (No government law has ever prevented Americans from purchasing gasoline-powered vehicles.)
During a press conference at the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump implied that Musk’s “one big beautiful bill act,” which Musk has been shouting about all week, is opposed by the Tesla CEO because he is “upset” that the electric vehicle incentive was taken away. He also said that he is unsure if he will continue to be friends with Musk and claimed that Musk “knew the inner workings of the bill.”
In a follow-up tweet to Trump, Musk did not deny the charge regarding the EV tax credits, stating that it was “very unfair!!” that the bill still included oil and gas subsidies. He also added, “this bill was never shown to me even once & was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!”
Similar to how their relationship began, the US president’s and the richest man in the world’s breakup is unfolding quickly, furiously, and in the public eye.
President Donald Trump bemoaned his strained relationship with his adviser-turned-social media foe Elon Musk while he and Germany’s leader sat in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Following Musk’s criticism of the President’s flagship bill of tax cuts and spending plans, the billionaire and erstwhile Trump supporter said he was “very disappointed” in the president.
“Whatever,” Musk said on social media as he instantly responded to Trump.
It is rare for politicians and the people who fund them to agree. The speed at which they fell out, however, surpasses the extent of Musk’s support for Trump, having contributed at least $250 million to his campaign, and the extent of the latitude the President granted him to cut and penetrate the government via the Department of Government Efficiency.
Shortly after the then-candidate was almost killed on stage at an event in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July, Musk declared his support for Trump.
Days later, it was revealed that Musk had formed a political action committee to help elect Trump.
Musk, who famously jumped in the air alongside Trump on stage at a rally in October, quickly became a close advisor and regular companion. The tech billionaire supported Trump after he was elected, accompanied him on Air Force One for weekend visits to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, slept in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House at the President’s invitation, and attended Cabinet meetings while sporting a MAGA hat (sometimes multiple ones).
On Thursday, Trump stated, “I’ll be honest, I think he missed the place,”
“He got out there, and all of a sudden he wasn’t in this beautiful Oval Office.”
In a quiet press conference held in the Oval Office last week, Musk said goodbye to Trump while sporting a black eye that he claimed was caused by his young kid, but which appeared to be a metaphor for his turbulent tenure in government service.
Trump brought it up on Thursday, rarely missing an opportunity to jab his critics on appearance.
“Do you want a little makeup?” I asked. We’ll buy you some cosmetics. It’s intriguing,” Trump remarked.
Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Musk has been mulling over on social media for days, will raise the government deficit, the US President said. “Disgusting abomination” is how Musk described the law.
Trump stated in the Oval Office on Thursday, “He hasn’t said bad about me personally, but I’m sure that will be next.”
“However, Elon has really let me down. I have greatly aided Elon.
“You see, Elon and I got along really well. Trump remarked, “I’m not sure if we will anymore.”
Some people who leave his administration “miss it so badly” and “actually become hostile,” according to the president.
“It’s sort of Trump derangement syndrome, I guess they call it,” he stated.
He dismissed the billionaire’s attempts to win him the election last year, which included a $1 million-per-day Pennsylvania voter prize. Musk appeared to be positioned as a highly sought-after ally for Republicans in the future due to the rush of money he demonstrated he was prepared to spend, but his break with Trump, the party’s leader, raises doubts about whether they or anyone else will experience such a campaign windfall in the future.
Trump claimed that Tesla’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, “only developed a problem” with the measure because it eliminates electric vehicle tax credits.
Musk retaliated on social media, saying, “False,” while the President went on.
“This bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!”
He said in a different post that Trump could “ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill” while maintaining the spending cuts.
According to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, which has been the official scorekeeper of legislation in Congress for decades, the bill would unleash trillions of dollars in tax cuts and cut spending, but it would also increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over a ten-year period and leave nearly 10.9 million more people without health insurance.
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