U.S. President Donald Trump is not known for being forgiving, so when the White House had a muted response to the first signs of mutiny from his cabinet, the response was surprising.
Elon Musk became the first lieutenant to break ranks following his departure from the inner circle of the West Wing.
Musk’s official title as a special government advisor means that he’s only allowed to serve unofficially for 130 days in a calendar year. That clock ran out at the end of May, and now Musk is talking in ways he didn’t just weeks ago.
Related: White House responds to the latest Elon Musk jab
Last month, Musk made it a point to wear a red hat emblazoned with the words “TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING“ to a cabinet meeting.
The gesture was part of the Trump administration’s ritual of having the members say something effusive about the president at the beginning of each cabinet meeting.
However, some distance from the White House seems to have changed Musk’s mind about just how effective the president’s policies have been in achieving what seems to be Musk’s biggest political goal: balancing the budget.
To get his way, Musk has gone full scorched earth, suggesting that the reason the federal government has not released its file on Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile who befriended some of the world’s richest and most powerful people, is because President Trump is featured in the files.
This stunning accusation has never been publicly vetted, but that didn’t stop Musk from tweeting it to his 220 million followers.
Elon Musk and President Trump have exchanged barbs over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that is expected to increase the U.S. deficit.
Image source: Shutterstock/Getty Images/TheStreet
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s feud means allies must pick sides
Elon Musk has been taking shots at the White House recently about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Trump is currently trying to get through Congress. The bipartisan Congressional Budget Office expects the bill to add between $2.4 trillion and $3.8 trillion to the U.S. deficit over the next decade.
On May 25, Musk told CBS, “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”
He escalated his criticisms on June 3 when he tweeted that the bill was a “disgusting abomination.”
Over the past year, as President Trump and Elon joined forces, so too did their fan bases. Elon fans would defend Trump and attack his online accusers, and Trump fans have done the same.
Some of those media people and politicians spoke out as the whole kerfuffle went down.
Related: Trump decision leaves Elon Musk in a serious bind
“You’ve lost your damn mind,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) told reporters June 5, referring to Musk. “Enough is enough. Stop this. I don’t think it’s healthy.”
Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) went on CNN to defend Trump’s tax bill, saying the president has been working the phones to convince senators to vote yes, and succeeding. While working on that, he is also besting Elon in their battle of words online.
“He’s taken the high ground with Elon and back and forth online. He’s more focused on passing the Big Beautiful Bill to support working-class families in this country,” Banks told CNN, though CNN host Jake Tapper reminded Banks that Trump has accused Musk of going crazy and threatened to revoke all his government contracts.
Naturally, Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) took a few seconds to twist the knife and keep the Musk-Trump feud going. “The girls are fighting, aren’t they?” said her June 5 post on X.
Some support Elon Musk’s view
Fox News host Laura Ingraham (who has interviewed both men) came to Musk’s defense after President Trump said, “The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon’s governmental subsidies and contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
“Musk is his own person,” Ingraham said. “The government contracts that he has stand on their own merit. They shouldn’t be called into question. Threatening to pull them, that’s not wise when five minutes ago you were, of course, hailing Musk’s work in helping rescue the stranded Americans in space.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) wants Musk and Trump to patch things up, even though he is more on Musk’s side of the argument (about the bill) than Trump’s.
“I have a great respect for Elon… Elon’s frustrated; he thinks we’ve become debt slaves. He thinks Congress needs to relearn the magical, healing power of no. I agree with his point of view, I’m just not ready to throw the towel in on this bill,” Kennedy said.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk really wants to kill Trump’s tax bill, and he wants to use the levers of democracy to do it.
Musk urged constituents to call their senators and representatives to kill the bill because “bankrupting America is not ok!”
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