Incredibly fast! Elon Musk ended his 130 days at the White House as the head axe of dozens of government programmes and thousands of workers in a bid to cut $2 trillion from the US spending budget, a target he missed by over $1.8 trillion. And from there, it’s been all downhill.
Last Wednesday, Elon Musk made a surprising statement saying he was “disappointed” with his then “buddy” Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful (tax) Bill, and today, Tuesday, he called it a “disgusting abomination”.
On X, Musk wrote, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it.”
He then added, You know you did wrong. You know it.” He also explained in a different X post that the BBB, as Trump calls it, “will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
‘We will fire all politicians’
He did not stop there: “Congress is making America bankrupt. In November next year, we will fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” he said in reference to the US midterm elections.
The bill, which includes multi-trillion-dollar tax breaks and more defence spending while also allowing the US government to borrow more money, was passed by the House of Representatives in May.
The bill, which includes multi-trillion-dollar tax breaks and more defence spending while also allowing the US government to borrow more money, was passed by the House of Representatives in May.
The BBC explained that, in its current form, the bill is estimated to increase the budget deficit—the difference between what the government spends and the revenue it receives—by approximately $600 billion (approximately £444 billion or €528 billion) in the next fiscal year.
Trump ‘is sticking to it’
Additionally, it proposes lifting the limit on the amount of money the government can borrow, known as the debt ceiling, to $4 trillion (£2.96 trillion or €3.52 trillion).
Reporters asked Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, about Musk’s comments. She responded that the “President already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it.”
Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has stated over the last few days that he will not support the bill if it includes the provision to raise the debt ceiling. He went on to X and wrote a comment siding with Musk.
‘We can and must do better’
“I agree with Elon. We have both seen the massive waste in government spending, and we know another $5 trillion in debt is a huge mistake,” he said. “We can and must do better.”
While Trump has not commented on Musk’s remarks, he did bash Rand on Truth Social.
“Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming,” Trump said. “He loves voting ‘NO’ on everything, he thinks it’s good politics, but it’s not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!”
Trump also said, “Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him.”
House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson did respond to Musk. “My friend Elon is terribly wrong. It’s a very important first start. Elon is missing it.”
Even Trump’s buddy says the bill is bad
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “Even Elon Musk, who’s been part of the whole process, and is one of Trump’s buddies, said the bill is bad. We can imagine how bad this bill is.”
Trump and Republicans in Congress have set a deadline of July 4th, coinciding with the U.S. Independence Day celebration, to pass and sign the bill into law.
