Divided by ‘big beautiful bill’, united by conflicts: The Musk vs Trump feud in last 48 hours

The praise came less than 24 hours after Musk criticised lawmakers for voting in favour of what he called “the biggest debt increase in history.” He wrote: “It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill… that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!”

Musk goes off

Musk’s renewed attacks on the bill started Monday afternoon, when he threatened members of Congress who voted for the legislation. He said the bill would undermine his efforts at DOGE which sought fiscal responsibility by eliminating what he and others viewed as wasteful spending.

The Senate bill would add nearly $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate released Sunday. The Senate legislation costs more than the House-approved bill, which would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

“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! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” he wrote on X.

He later shared a campaign poster with “LIAR” written across Pinocchio’s face above the text “Voted to increase America’s debt by $5,000,000,000,000.”

“Anyone who campaigned on the PROMISE of REDUCING SPENDING, but continues to vote on the BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY will see their face on this poster in the primary next year,” Musk wrote.

Musk wrote several posts about creating a third party called “the America Party,” which would serve as a populist alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties.

“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Musk said.

He also posted that he would contribute to the re-election campaign for Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who has been one of the few Republican voices in Congress to take a stand against the bill. Trump has publicly scolded Massie for his opposition.

Mocking Republican lawmakers and Musk said, “How can you call yourself the Freedom Caucus if you vote for a DEBT SLAVERY bill…?” He added, “They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”

Trump enters the chat

Trump early Tuesday morning responded with a threat: He could use DOGE to probe the government contracts and subsidies Musk’s companies receive.

“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”

In the hours after Trump’s post, Musk reposted several graphics on X depicting a climbing national debt, which currently sits at more than $36 trillion, according to government data. On Tuesday at the White House, Trump said Musk risked serious losses from his opposition to the bill.

“He’s upset that he’s losing his EV mandate,” Trump said. “He could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Elon could lose a lot more than that.”

When asked if Trump would want to deport Musk, an American citizen, Trump said, “I don’t know, we’ll have to take a look.”

Though Musk has been a naturalised US citizen since 2002, deportation is not legally possible unless citizenship was obtained fraudulently, CNN notes.

“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” Trump added. “You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies. Elon’s very upset that the EV mandate is going to be terminated.”

Musk quickly reacted to the video of Trump, saying he was “tempted” to escalate the tensions but would “refrain for now”. “So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now,” Musk wrote on X.

Trump has argued that Musk’s primary opposition to the Big, Beautiful Bill is the loss of EV tax credits. Musk denies that, retweeting a post Monday that said, “Elon’s opposition to the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ has never been about its removal of EV tax credits or the EV mandate, it’s simply about his passionate opposition to rising government debt.”

“All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America,” Musk posted.

Two of Musk’s companies — SpaceX and Tesla — have US government contracts or benefit from subsidies, though it is unclear exactly how much the benefits are worth. The Washington Post has reported that Musk’s businesses have received at least $38 billion in various government benefits, credits and contracts.

So far, the feud hasn’t grown as personal or as vicious as their public blow-up last month when Musk, without providing evidence, accused Trump of withholding information about disgraced financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and claiming that Trump’s name was included in the government’s so-called Epstein files.

The public split is a steep downfall from their previously close-knit relationship, which saw Musk spend at least an estimated $250 million to help elect Trump.

A week after the peak of that feud, Musk said he regretted some of his posts about Trump. Musk deleted some of his most inflammatory X posts, including the one relating to Epstein and another agreeing with the suggestion that Trump should be impeached. Musk had since softened his tone about Trump and the bill, largely shifting his focus on social media and in interviews to his companies.

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