Trump attacks Musk as public feud escalates over tax-cut bill
STORY: :: Trump says he is 'very disappointed' in Elon Musk, after the billionaire attacked his tax-cut bill
:: June 5, 2025
TRUMP: "But I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here. Better than you people. He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem and he only developed the problem when he found out that we're going to cut EV mandate, because that's billions and billions of dollars and it really is unfair. We want to have cars of all types, electric, we want to have electric, but we want to have gasoline combustion and we want to have different, we want to have hybrid, we want to be able to sale everything. And when that was cut, and Congress wanted to cut it, he became a little bit different and I can understand that, but he knew every aspect of this bill. He knew it better than almost anybody and he never had a problem until right after he left and if you saw the statements he made about me, which I'm sure you could can get very easily, it's very fresh on tape, he said the most beautiful things about me. And he hasn't said bad about me personally, but I'm sure that will be next. But I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot."
Trump asserted that Musk's attacks on the bill were motivated by the legislation's proposed elimination of consumer tax credits for electric vehicles. Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, has said he opposes the bill because it will increase federal deficits.
As Trump was speaking, Musk wrote on X, "Slim Beautiful Bill for the win," a reference to the bill's official title, the "Big Beautiful Bill Act."
Musk has been a powerful Trump ally, spending nearly $300 billion to boost Republicans in the 2024 election and then overseeing Trump's sweeping cost-cutting effort in the federal government.
Shares of Tesla extended losses after Trump's criticism of Musk. The stock was lately down nearly 6%; it was off by 3% before Trump spoke.
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