Trump-Musk Feud Escalates Over Spending Bill: 5 Things to Know

A public war of words erupted over the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

President Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, alongside Musk's son X Æ A-Xii, speak to the press as they stand next to a Tesla vehicle on the South Portico of the White House on March 11, 2025. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

A public feud between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump took a turn for the worse on Thursday, with the tech billionaire claiming that the president wouldn’t have won without him and the president suggesting that Musk’s subsidies could be pulled.

Just moments before, President Trump told reporters in the White House that he was disappointed in Musk’s comments about the One Big Beautiful Bill, which the Tesla CEO has harshly criticized on social media.

Trump Says Musk Subsidies Could be Terminated

Hours after the Oval Office comments, in a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that “the easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”

He added that he “was always surprised that [President Joe] Biden didn’t do it!”

About an hour later, Musk responded on X that SpaceX will start “decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately” in response to Trump’s statement. The Dragon craft is used to transport cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS).

While the president didn’t go into detail, Musk’s companies including Tesla and SpaceX have received billions of dollars in government subsidies, tax credits, contracts, and loans over the years. A report from the Washington Post earlier this year said around $38 billion in government funding stretching back nearly 20 years has been given to Musk’s companies.

In comments last year, Musk said subsidies make up only a small portion of Tesla’s revenue and that SpaceX doesn’t get any.

“Do some research ... SpaceX gets no subsidies and received half as much as Boeing for astronaut transport, but did 100 percent of the work,” Musk wrote in response to an account that claimed those companies receive significant government funding.

“As for Tesla, take a minute to read our public filings and you will see that EV incentives represent a minor part of our revenue,” he added. “On the other hand, oil & gas companies get massive tax breaks that exceed those given to the EV industry by several orders of magnitude. Wake up.”

Musk Says He Propped up Trump, GOP

That prompted a comment from Musk, who said that “without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51–49 in the Senate” in a post on X.

“Such ingratitude,” he added.

Musk poured tens of millions of dollars into the 2024 presidential race after endorsing Trump, appearing alongside the Republican nominee in the closing weeks of the contest. President Trump named Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash billions of dollars in what the administration says is fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government.

Trump-Musk Relationship Up in the Air

At one point during his comments to reporters, President Trump said that he “always liked Elon ... and so I was very surprised” by his comments on the bill, which the president supports.

“You saw the words he had for me, and he hasn’t said anything about me that’s bad. I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill. Because the bill is incredible,” the president said.

Then he asserted that “Elon and I had a great relationship“ and added, ”I don’t know if we will anymore.”

He later told reporters he was “very disappointed in Elon” and that “I’ve helped Elon a lot.”

The president’s comment comes after Musk has been sharply critical of the bill on social media for the past several days, at one point calling the measure a “disgusting abomination” that drew pushback from congressional Republicans and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

Trump Suggests Criticism Based on EV Credits

On Thursday, Trump told reporters that he believes Musk was not happy about a portion of the bill that would slash federal subsidies for electric vehicles, which would possibly create problems for Musk’s electric vehicle company.

He also suggested that Musk wasn’t happy with his decision to remove the nomination of Jared  Isaacman to lead NASA after Musk had recommended him for the role. But the president said that he wanted someone else to lead the space agency because Isaacman “happened to be a Democrat, like totally Democrat.”

President Trump also said Musk was familiar with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Musk said was a false statement on X. He added that he was never shown the bill.

Musk, who called it the “Big Ugly Bill,” added that officials could “keep the EV/solar incentives cuts in the bill, also cut all the crazy spending increases in the Big Ugly Bill so that America doesn’t go bankrupt.”

Earlier in the week, Johnson told reporters that Musk may be opposed to the bill because it contains language that terminates electric vehicle tax credits.

“I know that the EV mandate is very important to him; that is going away because the government should not be subsidizing these things as part of the Green New Deal,” Johnson said. “I know that has an effect on his business and I lament that. We talked about the ramp down period on that and how that should be duly considered by Congress.”

Musk Says Bill Will Cause Deficit to Skyrocket

In a post on X Tuesday, Musk said the bill will cause the U.S. budget deficit to skyrocket.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” he wrote in a post on X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

In a follow-up post, Musk said that the budget reconciliation package, which is called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, “will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”

The White House on Tuesday offered a response to Musk’s comment, saying Trump is sticking to supporting the bill and that his opinion won’t be changed.