Trump and Elon Musk's Bromance Is Circling the Drain Over Budget Bill

Yahoo

2 days ago

Tensions are rising between Donald Trump and his biggest 2024 campaign financier, Elon Musk.
The dynamic duo—who were practically inseparable after November—are driving apart over their differing opinions on Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' an extension to his 2017 tax cuts for multimillionaires and corporations that is projected to add trillions to the national deficit.
The president reportedly 'wasn't happy' and was left 'confused' as to why his richest MAGA ally had become more outspoken in his criticism of the bill since exiting his role as a special government employee, according to senior White House officials who spoke with The Wall Street Journal. The whole situation caught senior Trump advisers off guard, the Journal reported.
Last month, Musk confessed in an interview with CBS that he believed Trump's spending package was actually a bad idea. But the tech billionaire has become more brazen in his read of the bill in the weeks since he's left the White House.
'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore,' Musk wrote Tuesday afternoon on X, the social media platform he owns. 'This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.'
In a separate post, the world's richest man—who had promised to bankroll Republican primaries mere months ago—made clear what he now planned to do with his cash.
'In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,' wrote Musk.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 215–214, with two Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it.
By Wednesday, Musk's directive for more than 200 million of his social media followers was clear: 'KILL the BILL.' That same day, Trump posted an image of Musk's exit message from the previous week without further comment.
Media commentators picked up on the signal, with CNN host Erin Burnett laughing off Trump's response to Musk's online tirade against his 'entire domestic agenda' as 'thinly veiled.'
Republicans plan to offset the expensive tax cut by slashing some $880 billion from Medicaid. But Musk's issue with Trump's plan has little to do with slashing programs aimed at supporting and uplifting the most vulnerable Americans—instead, he's condemned the bill on the basis that it would effectively undo his work atop the Department of Government Efficiency, which was tasked with paring down government spending.
Musk was Trump's top financial backer in the 2024 election, spending at least $250 million in the final months of the president's campaign after Trump was shot in July. Musk had also promised to funnel funds toward other Republicans, declaring in the wake of the November election that his super PACs would 'play a significant role in primaries.' In the following months, Musk threatened to use his money to fund primary challengers to Trump's agenda and go after Democrats, and that he would be preparing 'for the midterms and any intermediate elections, as well as looking at elections at the district attorney level.'