Elon Musk is now using Trump's favorite weapon against him

Boston Globe

a day ago

With just those posts, the Tesla CEO and owner of X (formerly Twitter) disrupted Republican momentum on one of their top legislative priorities, sending senators scrambling and shifting the trajectory of a bill that had been months in the making.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt implied on Tuesday that the Musk post was old news and Trump 'already knows' how the tech entrepreneur felt on the bill. But 'This is one big, beautiful bill, and [Trump is] sticking to it,'
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Related
:
Advertisement
However within hours, Republican lawmakers who had spent months negotiating the tax-and-trade package began scrambling, while the bill's detractors gleefully piled on.
House Speaker Mike Johnson weighed in,
Senate Majority Leader John Thune also pushed back on Musk's argument, saying 'Obviously [Musk] has some influence, got a big following on social media,' he said. 'The question for our members is going to be, would you prefer the alternative? And the alternative isn't a good one.'
Advertisement
Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul, who long opposed the bill, wanted to join the
Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson said Musk's warning 'bolsters' his case against new spending in the bill.
Even Musk's tactic mirrors Trump's pre- and post-presidency strategy of derailing legislation with social media blasts rather than traditional lobbying. When Trump opposed a deal on immigration or infrastructure, he didn't hold a press conference. He posted. And Republicans often reversed course. The power wasn't in the policy argument, it was in the signal it sent to voters and activists.
Now, Musk is testing that same method.
He framed his opposition to the bill in libertarian terms of wasteful spending, bloated government, and runaway debt. But there's another explanation: the bill threatens his company Tesla.
Related
:
The Big Beautiful Bill would roll back parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, including electric vehicle subsidies, battery production credits, and clean energy incentives.
Musk didn't say that directly. Instead, he positioned his objection as ideological. But policy details suggest a more self-interested motive.
This dynamic is increasingly important. Musk isn't just reacting to policy. He's trying to shape it and potentially block it.
Democrats may try to amend the bill or preserve key provisions. But the central question isn't what Democrats do in the minority. It's whether Musk now holds effective veto power over Republican policymaking, in a way Trump has had the exclusive right to do for years.
Advertisement
If Musk succeeds, this probably won't be a one-time effort. It will likely become part of his broader playbook. He has followers and influence.
That influence could grow. Musk's audience includes tech leaders, investors, libertarians, and a vocal online base that overlaps with the new populist right.
When he speaks, elected officials listen if not for guidance, then for political safety.
Related
:
For example, Musk warned voters will 'fire all the politicians who betrayed the American people' if they supported the bill.
Yet all of this action comes just as Musk claimed a few weeks ago that he was stepping back from politics entirely.
'I'm going to do a lot less in the future,'
He may not be spending money right now, but clearly, he's still spending influence.
What makes this especially potent is Musk's ability to blur roles. He's not a donor or a candidate at the moment. He isn't even a 'special government employee' in the White House.
And Musk doesn't have to be consistent. He can criticize government programs while profiting from them. He can call for deregulation while relying on federal contracts. Like Trump, the effectiveness lies in the disruption, not the coherence. And not for nothing, disruption is good for the X business bottom line as well in terms of user engagement.
Advertisement
This isn't a traditional power structure. It's a new one: driven by algorithms, attention, and reaction. And it raises real questions about where political authority now resides.
That's why this moment matters. If the Big Beautiful Bill collapses under pressure from Musk's post, it sets a precedent. It confirms that he can shape the GOP's legislative agenda without holding office or formal political power even over the objections of Trump who just wants a bill on his desk.
If this strategy works, future debates over energy, trade, taxes—even foreign policy—could all start with the same question we used to ask of Trump: What did Elon Musk post today?
James Pindell is a Globe political reporter who reports and analyzes American politics, especially in New England.