Trump turns on Musk: President ‘very disappointed’ after Tesla billionaire’s tax bill attack
by Josef Al Shemary · LBCBy Josef Al Shemary
US President Donald Trump said he is "disappointed" with Elon Musk after his former backer and adviser lambasted the president's signature bill.
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Trump suggested the world's richest man misses being in the White House and has "Trump derangement syndrome".
"Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," Trump told reporters in the White House on Thursday.
The Republican president reflected on his break-up with Musk in front of reporters in the Oval Office as the Space X owner continued a storm of social media posts attacking the president's "Big Beautiful Bill" - and warning it will increase the federal deficit.
"I'm very disappointed in Elon," Mr Trump said. "I've helped Elon a lot."
Musk replied on his platform, X, writing: "Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate."
"Such ingratitude," he added.
Trump suggested Musk, who has been struggling with declining Tesla stocks since he took his White House job, was against the bill because of its implications for electric vehicles.
"He knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem & he only developed the problem when he found out we're going to cut EV mandate," Trump said.
Musk denied this, saying: "False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!"
It comes after billionaire Elon Musk repeatedly attacked Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax and spending bill, even has urging US lawmakers to "kill" the bill as the rift between the former allies deepens.
Trump's budget, which includes massive tax breaks and increased defence spending, was passed by the House of Representatives last month.
It is now being mulled over by senators as it prepares to pass through the second chamber.
Urging the lawmakers to crush the bill, the Tesla boss has spammed X with a flurry of posts lashing out at budget.
“Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL,” one post on Wednesday read.
It follows a string of posts warning against the "disgusting abomination" on Tuesday, calling it a "massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill".
Read more: Why has Elon Musk left Doge and what now for billionaire?
"Shame on those who voted for it, you know you did wrong. You know it," Musk also wrote that day.
The US' budget office said on Wednesday that Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” would see federal revenues slashed by $3.67tn and spending cut by $1.25tn through 2034.
Musk, who has been a vocal critic of the proposals, has claimed: “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
White House officials say Trump remains committed to passing his spending and tax bill through the senate, despite the loud dissenting voice from his billionaire former ally.
Sending out a "myth buster" statement, it alleged that any claim that the bill would lead to higher deficits is a "hoax".
"By every honest metric, President Donald J. Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill dramatically improves the fiscal trajectory of the United States and unleashes an era of unprecedented economic growth," it said in a statement.
It comes amid an explosive fallout between the pair, which has seen the billionaire Republican donor step down from his role in Trump's administration after 129 days.
Musk's criticism of the bill makes his first public attack on the president following his abrupt departure from Doge, a new department tasked with slashing government waste.
He had said he would remain a "friend" and "adviser" to the US President as he left his role at the White House.
When he still had a seat at the table in Trump's government, the SpaceX CEO came down hard on the administration's $3.8 trillion spending bill."
It undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," he told reporters.Musk added: "I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it.
"It is not the only occasion where Musk has lashed out at the White House over DOGE's treatment. He told the Washington Post: "DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything.
"Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it."Musk was referring to the "Trump tax bill" - a series of sweeping cuts to federal spending. The X owner appears to believe it would actually weaken cost-cutting efforts.
Such a rift over the seemingly marks a significant shift in the pair's relationship - which during the presidential campaign saw Musk refer to himself as "Dark Maga" as Trump brought him out at rallies across the US.