WASHINGTON POST: Trump’s Musk deportation threat as new mudslinging match erupts after failed bromance

Elon Musk has renewed his assault on President Donald Trump’s signature budget bill, drawing new ire from the president and investors — and glee from some Democrats — with his threat to launch a new political party.

“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Mr Musk wrote on X.

“Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”

Mr Trump fired back Tuesday in an early-morning barb on Truth Social as Senate Republicans wrangled over the bill overnight, taking aim at the federal subsidies Mr Musk has received.

Without them, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX would “probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” the president wrote, adding that cutting them would save the country a “FORTUNE”.

In an exchange with reporters on Tuesday morning, Mr Trump was asked whether he would seek the deportation of Mr Musk, who served his administration as the driving force of the Department of Government Efficiency.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon . . . DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”

In response to Mr Trump’s comment, Mr Musk wrote that he would refrain from what he called the “tempting” urge to further escalate the back-and-forth.

The Musk-Trump clash first exploded into public view in early June, with the two men reaching deep for insults before their rift seemed to cool off and Mr Musk expressed regret over some posts that he said “went too far”.

Now they are re-engaging over the massive $US3.3 trillion ($5t) bill that embodies Mr Trump’s agenda.

Mr Musk, who was one of Mr Trump’s most trusted advisers before leaving the White House in late May, decried the bill as “the biggest debt increase in history”.

He threatened Monday night to support opposition candidates in primary races against Republicans who campaigned on reducing the debt but have since turned around and supported the president’s bill. Mr Musk assailed what he called “the PORKY PIG PARTY” in one of a series of posts lambasting the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Under Mr Trump, Mr Musk oversaw DOGE, the cost-cutting initiative that rapidly gained access to federal agencies, drew up job cuts and contract cancellations, and claims to have cut $US190 billion in federal spending to date.

Mr Musk’s new attacks won him support from unusual corners and consternation among some of his biggest supporters, some of whom would have preferred that he keep his attention on Tesla, the electric-vehicle company he leads, which is expected to report deliveries on Wednesday.

Those figures are widely expected to fall short of Wall Street’s hopes, another one of the business challenges that have prompted Mr Musk to divert his focus from Washington back to his companies.

Besides his concern about the bill increasing the national debt, Mr Musk hinted at a business reason for his opposition over the weekend.

“It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future,” he wrote on X, the social media platform he owns.

Some Tesla fans — and those who support Mr Musk’s other businesses — have objected to the bill’s elimination of a $US7,500 electric-vehicle tax credit, along with its gutting of energy incentives for initiatives such as wind and solar power.

Mr Musk’s turnabout on Mr Trump’s agenda was a welcome development for some who have long opposed him.

“Hard to believe I’m siding with the guy who spent $US300m to get Mr Trump elected, but he’s not wrong,” wrote Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) on X.

“Republicans’ plan to run up the national debt to hand out giant tax breaks to billionaires will be an economic disaster.”

Mr Musk’s earlier embrace of Mr Trump — and the $US288m he spent to help elect Mr Trump and other Republicans — led to a fierce backlash against Tesla, which now faces demand concerns prompted in part by his political maneuvering.

But some were pleased to see Mr Musk come around on his apparent view of Mr Trump’s movement.

“My old boss has come to two logical conclusions: First, MAGA has zero credibility on tackling the debt crisis,” said Rohan Patel, a former Tesla executive in Washington.

“Second, MAGA is screwing over American high tech manufacturing and raising electricity prices for everyone with boneheaded energy policies and tariffs that will cede the AI and clean tech future of China.”

One Mr Musk ally, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject, said Mr Musk’s intervention in the discussion of the Big Beautiful Bill was an unwelcome development at a crucial time for Tesla, the company that is key to his fortune as the world’s richest person.

Tesla “shareholders are groaning because sales are (way down), and he is talking about starting a third party,” the person said.

“This shouldn’t really be surprising,” the person said. “They campaigned on this . . . Love elon but not sure what the goal is here . . . We need to start a new party to undo what the last party I got elected did.”

James Fishback, the CEO of investment firm Azoria, who previously advised DOGE, said Mr Musk’s third-party effort would fare poorly.

“If Elon Musk launches a new party to take on Trump, he’ll face a humiliating defeat,” Fishback said.

“Working families, small business owners and seniors will benefit from the president’s Big Beautiful Bill. It delivers $US1.2 trillion in spending cuts, secures the border like never before, and reforms Medicaid to ensure Americans don’t have to compete with freeloaders for lifesaving health care.”

Minutes earlier, Mr Musk posted an image of the character Pinocchio under the word “liar” and the words, “Voted to increase America’s DEBT by $US5,000,000,000,000.”

“Anyone who campaigned on the PROMISE of REDUCING SPENDING, but continues to vote on the BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY will see their face on this poster in the primary next year,” Mr Musk wrote.

(c) 2025, The Washington Post