The Breakup: Now, Musk dumps Trump’s pet Bill as “disgusting abomination”
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Their breakup seems complete, just three days after Elon Musk ended his nearly four-month-long honeymoon with the White House which he entered with Donald Trump after the latter’s inauguration for a second term as the US President on January 20, 2025.
On Tuesday, the Tesla CEO blasted Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts as a “disgusting abomination, testing the limits of his political influence as he targeted the centerpiece of Republicans’ legislative agenda, the media reported.
The broadside, which Musk issued on his social media platform X, came just days after Trump gave him a celebratory Oval Office farewell that marked the end of his work for the administration, where he spearheaded the newly-created, unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), sacked hundreds of thousands from federal offices, and earned the wrath of many, including Trump acolytes.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk posted on X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
The fresh legislation, which has passed the House of Representatives and is currently being debated in the US Senate, would curtail subsidies that benefit Tesla, Musk’s electric automaker, which is already suffering huge losses in Europe and elsewhere.
Reports suggested that with the new Trump bill, Musk’s business interests stand to take a hit because of a potential slash in funding for electric vehicles and related technologies.
The tech titan followed his criticism with a threat aimed at Republicans.
“In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” he wrote in another X post, which some construed as an indication of a potential mid-term elections to the presidency in 2026.
It’s a sharp shift for Musk, the world’s richest person worth of USD 423 billion, who spent at least USD 250 million supporting Trump’s presidential campaign last year. He previously pledged to help defeat Republican lawmakers deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump, but now he’s suggesting voting them out if they advance the President’s legislative priority.
However, it’s unclear how Musk will follow through on his criticism. He recently said he would spend “a lot less” on political campaigns, though he left the door open to political involvement “if I see a reason.”
His missives could cause headaches for Republicans on Capitol Hill, who face conflicting demands from Trump and their party’s wealthiest benefactor.
Last month, Musk said he was “disappointed” by the spending bill, a much milder criticism than the broadside he levelled on Tuesday.
The budget package seeks to extend tax cuts approved in 2017, during Trump’s first term at the White House, and add new ones he campaigned on. It also includes a massive buildup of USD 350 billion for border security, deportations and national security.
To defray some of the lost tax revenue to the government and limit piling onto the nation’s USD 36 trillion debt load, Republicans want to reduce federal spending by imposing work requirements for some Americans who rely on government safety net services.
Two of the Senate’s most fiscally hawkish Republicans, however, backed Musk.
“We can and must do better,” Kentucky Senator Rand Paul wrote on X. Utah Sen. Mike Lee said “federal spending has become excessive,” adding that it causes inflation and “weaponizes government.”
Still, Trump enjoys fierce loyalty among the GOP base, and in the end, his opinion may be the only one that matters.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt played down Musk’s criticism.
“The President already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” she said, and Musk’s post “doesn’t change the President’s opinion.”
The intra-party tension in the GOP delighted Democrats, who found themselves in the unlikely position of siding with Musk. Democrats are waging an all-out political assault on GOP proposals to cut Medicaid, food stamps and green energy investments to help pay for more than USD 4.5 trillion in tax cuts — with many lawmakers being hammered at boisterous town halls back home.
“We’re in complete agreement,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said of Musk. The New York Democratic lawmaker stood alongside a poster-sized printout of Musk’s post during a Capitol news conference.
The last time Musk weighed in significantly on legislation, the scenario was far different. His power was ascendant after the election, with Trump joining him for a rocket test in Texas and appointing him to spearhead DOGE.
