Trump-Musk feud reignites over the ‘big, beautiful bill’
by Julia Mueller and Alex Gangitano –
The public and messy feud between President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk was reignited this week over the president’s “big, beautiful bill” as Congress works to get the massive package to Trump’s desk by July 4.
Musk on Monday said he would back primary challengers against any Republicans who support Trump’s megabill and promised to donate to lawmakers who have drawn the administration’s ire like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). Trump then threatened to cut government contracts for Musk’s companies and left open the possibility of deporting the South African CEO.
Trump and Musk both had signaled they were ready to move on from their bitter fight nearly a month ago, but the president’s megabill that Musk has called “political suicide for the Republican Party” has brought the two men back to snipping.
“I think Washington is confused by the on-off-again relationship between Trump and Musk. It looked like they had patched things up around a month ago,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, adding that the tech billionaire’s posts on the social platform X, which Musk owns, “came out of nowhere for most people” after it seemed like he was “looking to bury the hatchet” in recent weeks.
Trump on Tuesday shrugged off concerns that the GOP could be swayed by Musk’s megabill criticism, but he doubled down on his suggestion that the federal government take a look at the contracts Musk’s companies have. Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits over the years, according to a February Washington Post analysis.
“No, I don’t think so. I think what’s going to happen is DOGE is going to look at Musk. And if DOGE looks at Musk, we’re going to save a fortune,” Trump said during a visit to a new migrant detention facility in Florida, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “I don’t think he should be playing that game with me.”
It’s a sharp change in tone from the president, who had previously said he thinks he could make amends with Musk after their nasty disagreement last month.
Asked on Tuesday morning what happened to Musk, Trump replied, “nothing.”
“He’s upset that he’s losing his EV mandate and he’s upset. He’s very upset about things. But he could lose a lot more than that. I can tell you right now, Elon can lose a lot more than that,” he said, arguing that Musk’s criticism of the bill is over a key provision that takes away tax credits for electric vehicles (EVs) that benefited his company.
The president also signaled he would consider deporting the South African-born U.S. citizen, whom he had elevated to lead the cost-cutting DOGE until late May.
“I don’t know. I think we’ll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible,” Trump said.
The president has praised the massive cuts and sweeping changes to the federal government under DOGE, despite pushback over job losses and service disruptions, and he gifted Musk a gold key to the White House in May as recognition of the billionaire’s work.
But now, Musk is arguing that Trump’s ambitious tax and spending package undermines DOGE’s efforts to rein in spending.
As senators squabbled over the bill this past week, Musk blasted the spending package as “utterly insane” and “political suicide” for the GOP. On Monday, he renewed his calls for a new political party as he lamented estimates for how much the bill would raise the debt ceiling.
“Musk is unique in that he has enough money to probably actually impact a two-party system,” said a former Trump campaign official.
“Republicans obviously face challenges in their ability to govern, and so do Democrats, but right now all Trump wants is a bill with his name on it that he thinks is a good bill. A lot of Republicans in Congress know this isn’t a good bill, but fear is a motivator,” the former campaign official said. “We’re a two-party country, pure and simple. Musk is probably the only person that could change that given his money, but he’d have to find unique, credible candidates to attract the disillusioned voter who thus far has leaned Trump.”
The Senate’s version of the bill, which narrowly passed earlier on Tuesday, would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion between 2025 and 2034, roughly $1 trillion more than the House-passed version, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!” Musk wrote on X.
