Hell hath no fury like a social media platform-owning billionaire scorned.
In another round of late-night jabs between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the U.S. president suggested that Tesla magnate’s government subsidies and contracts could come under threat.
“Elon may get more subsidies than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website.
Trump went on to suggest that the DOGE initiative, or Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk was instrumental in setting up, could be turned against the world’s richest man.
“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this?” the president wrote.
According to an estimate by the Washington Post, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits over the years.
Trump and Musk started the year with effusive mutual praise and months of shared photo opportunities, before the relationship apparently soured last month over differences in opinion over government debt. The two now regularly goad each other online.
In response, Musk wrote on his own social media platform, X: “I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now.”
The latest social media fight follows Musk’s renewed criticism of Trump’s signature “big, beautiful bill,” which is currently struggling to gain enough Republican support to pass the Senate.
Musk says the bill will balloon the U.S. national debt. On Monday, he threatened to unseat lawmakers who campaigned on reducing the deficit but will vote for it. He has also floated the idea of starting a new party if the bill passes.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would increase federal deficits by about $2.4 trillion over the next decade.
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