Donald Trump threatened to withdraw government subsidies from Elon Musk’s companies and examine the billionaire’s immigration status after the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer ratcheted up his criticism of the president’s tax and spending bill. This comes ask, Senate Republican leaders continue to scrounge for votes to pass Donald Trump’s $3.3 trillion tax and spending bill as lingering intraparty fights threaten to upend the legislative centerpiece of the president’s domestic agenda.
Senators voted through Monday night and into Tuesday morning on a series of amendments to the massive bill, including proposed energy and health care provisions that could further fan the flames of division in a party split over cuts to social safety-net programs, clean energy tax credits from the previous administration and the overall cost of the bill. On his way to Florida, President Trump said “hopefully” the Senate will pass the bill today.
Donald Trump threatened to withdraw government subsidies from Elon Musk’s companies and examine the billionaire’s immigration status after the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer ratcheted up his criticism of the president’s tax and spending bill.
President Trump said he could use the cost-cutting effort that Musk pitched during Trump’s campaign and led for months against the leader of Tesla and SpaceX, telling reporters on Tuesday the Department of Government Efficiency may review US funding for rocket launches, satellites and EVs, and that “not everyone wants an electric car.”
“DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” Trump said as he walked along the White House’s South Lawn to board Marine One, echoing earlier posts on Truth Social that laid into Musk.
Musk “may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far,” Trump posted on Tuesday shortly after midnight. Without that government support, “Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.”
The president told reporters he thought Musk was lashing out at him because the Tesla CEO was “very upset that the EV mandate is going to be terminated” and threatened that “he could lose a lot more than that.”
When asked about his threats to deport Musk, who was born in South Africa but holds US citizenship, Trump said that he would “have to take a look.” In an X post in response to Trump’s comments, Musk said that it was “so tempting to escalate this,” but that he would “refrain for now.”
Tesla’s stock fell as much as 7.7% after trading opened in New York as it became clear that the rift between Trump and Musk which exploded into the public eye last month was revving up again after quieting down in recent weeks. The stock is set to extend a five-day losing streak to a sixth straight session, the longest such run since late February.
Almost a month after the incendiary spat, Musk began to ramp up criticism of Trump’s tax and spending bill through a series of posts on his social network, X, after Senate Republicans unveiled a new version of their tax-cut package Saturday that expedited the end of a popular $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicle purchases.
Musk took aim at Congress members who supported the bill, threatening to launch a new political party and vowing to boost his political spending to unseat lawmakers who voted for the bill during the next round of US elections.
“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Musk said on X, reprising his call for a new political party in the US. He denied that his opposition is based on preserving subsidies for his companies, writing in another post: “I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now.”
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