Trump says he and Elon Musk 'had a great relationship,' but it might be over now
Trump responded to Elon Musk's criticism of the "Big Beautiful Bill."
"Look, Elon and I had a great relationship," he said. "I don't know if we will anymore."
"Such ingratitude," Musk, who spent nearly $300 million to elect Trump and other Republicans, wrote on X.
President Donald Trump is finally responding to Elon Musk's criticism of his "Big Beautiful Bill."
"Look, Elon and I had a great relationship," Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday. "I don't know if we will anymore."
Trump told reporters that Musk's criticism of the bill likely stemmed primarily from the phase-out of the electric vehicle tax credit, which would likely impact his company, Tesla.
"You know, Elon's upset because we took the EV mandate… which was a lot of money for electric vehicles," Trump said. "And they're having a hard time, the electric vehicles."
"Elon knew this from the beginning," Trump added.
Musk fired back minutes later, saying that while he thought the EV phase-out was unfair, he was more concerned about the "MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill."
He later wrote on X that without him, Trump would have lost the election, Democrats would have gained control of the House, and Republicans would've had a smaller majority in the Senate.
"Such ingratitude," wrote Musk, who spent nearly $300 million to elect Trump and other Republicans last year.
In the Oval Office, Trump also said that Musk was lashing out because he "missed" being in the White House.
"I'll be honest, I think he misses the place. I think he got out there and all of a sudden, he wasn't in this beautiful Oval Office," Trump said. "I'll tell you, he's not the first. People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point, they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile. I don't know what it is. It's sort of Trump derangement syndrome, I guess they call it."
The tech titan first unleashed on the "Big Beautiful Bill," which is set to serve as the centerpiece of Trump's legislative agenda, on Tuesday. He's kept up his criticism ever since.
"I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk wrote on X on Tuesday. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination."
Musk main criticism has been of the bill's projected impact on the federal deficit. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that in its current form, the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years, while the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has said that number would be $2.5 trillion.
Musk previously said that the bill undermined the work of DOGE, which has sought to cut billions of dollars in federal spending.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have largely brushed off Musk's criticism. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that Musk is "flat wrong" about the bill, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that the tech titan is "entitled to that opinion," but "we're going to proceed full speed ahead."
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