Elon Musk, the South African-born tech billionaire, is tracing his steps back. Last year, he had spent at least $250 million supporting US President Donald Trump's campaign. He had vowed to help defeat Republican lawmakers who were insufficiently loyal to Trump, but now, he is threatening Republicans of voting them out.
“In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” he wrote in another X post.
Musk has been criticising Trump's "big, beautiful bill" of tax breaks and spending cuts as a “disgusting abomination”. He said, “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it." But he did not wait to step out of the White House. Last month, Musk said that he was “disappointed” by the spending bill.
The legislation that has been passed by the House and is currently up for debate in the Senate, would curtail subsidies that benefit Tesla, Musk's electric automaker. Trump's bill would effectively slash funding for electric vehicles and related technologies.
The budget package seeks to extend tax cuts approved in 2017 and add new ones. The bill also includes a massive buildup of $350 billion for border security, deportations and national security, which the Republicans have sought to offset with cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green-energy tax credits.
Musk wrote on X criticising the bill, “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
While it promises benefits for working-class Americans, critics argue it could hurt the most vulnerable, moreover, both - Republicans and Democrats express fears that they may lose their access to vital government services.
“I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told CBS. “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful,” he added. “I don't know if it could be both. My personal opinion.”
The Congressional Budget Office and independent analysts have projected that the bill would add between $2.3 trillion and $5 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.
However, White House officials have mixed reactions about the bill. Some fiscally conservative Republicans in the US Senate have supported Musk which could further complicate the bill's passage in that chamber.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed Musk's criticism and said, "The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill, it doesn't change his opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he's sticking to it," she told reporters.
When a Republican senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky agreed with Musk saying, “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. We can and must do better”, Trump lashed out at him and 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. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!”
