Elon Musk blasts new version of Trump's spending bill as 'utter madness'

Daily Mail​

12 hours ago

Elon Musk reignited his feud with Donald Trump as he tore into the president's spending bill in a blistering social media tirade.
The world's richest man condemned Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' as 'utter madness', hours before Senate Republicans are expected to hold an initial vote on the latest version of the bill on Saturday afternoon.
'The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,' Musk wrote in one of his X posts.
'Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.'
Trump's massive spending bill was notably the trigger for Musk and the president's dramatic fall out just three weeks ago, with Musk taking issue with the bill's estimated $2.8 trillion spending increases.
Musk - who celebrated his 54th birthday Saturday as he slammed Trump's bill - also criticized the impact the bill will have on the energy industry, with Musk recently pushing for a sharp increase in solar energy in the US.
Responding to a post that noted the Senate vote 'could wipe out 500 (Giga Watts) of potential energy generation' by 2030, Musk wrote: 'This would be incredibly destructive to America!'
'At the same time, this bill raises the debt ceiling by $5 TRILLION, the biggest increase in history, putting America in the fast lane to debt slavery!' he added in another post.
Earlier this month, Musk's opposition to the legislation saw his time in Trump's White House come to an acrimonious end as he tore into the president.
Musk had spent the start of the year slashing the federal government's programs through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but saw the $150 billion he claimed to have saved wiped out by the spending increases in Trump's bill.
In a shock X post that captured international headlines, Musk vented his fury by writing: '(Trump) is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!'
Musk also claimed that Trump couldn't have won the 2024 presidential election without him, and said in a post that Trump's bill showed 'such ingratitude.'
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Mail at the time: 'This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.'
Trump's sweeping Big Beautiful Bill encapsulates much of his domestic agenda, covering everything from tax breaks and immigration to national defense and energy.
Democrats are united against the bill, with Congressional Republicans - who hold majorities in both the House and Senate - set to decide whether President Trump's signature's domestic policy package will become law.
Trump told Republicans to skip their holiday vacations and deliver the bill by the Fourth of July.
Republicans say the bill is crucial because there would be a massive tax increase after December when tax breaks from Trump's first term expire. The legislation contains roughly $3.8 trillion in tax cuts.
The existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent under the bill. It temporarily would add new tax breaks that Trump campaigned on: no taxes on tips, overtime pay or some automotive loans, along with a bigger $6,000 deduction in the Senate draft for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year.
It would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200 under the Senate proposal. Families at lower income levels would not see the full amount.
The bill would also fund the hiring of 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and would provide Homeland Security with a new $10 billion fund for grants for states that help with federal immigration enforcement and deportation actions.
For the Pentagon, the bill would provide billions for ship building, munitions systems, and quality of life measures for servicemen and women, as well as $25 billion for the development of the Golden Dome missile defense system. The Defense Department would have $1 billion for border security.
To help partly offset the lost tax revenue and new spending, Republicans aim to cut back some long-running government programs: Medicaid, food stamps, green energy incentives and others. It's essentially unraveling the accomplishments of the past two Democratic presidents, Biden and Barack Obama.