WASHINGTON – Days after leaving the White House, Elon Musk slammed President Donald Trump’s tax and domestic policy bill as a “disgusting abomination,” escalating his criticism of the president’s signature legislation due to concerns that it will increase the deficit.
Musk’s pointed remarks on June 3 came after Trump hosted a friendly farewell for the world’s richest man in the Oval Office last Friday, and as the second-term Republican president works to pass what he calls his “big, beautiful bill” through the Senate.
“I am sorry, but I just can not stand it anymore,” Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform, X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a despicable abomination. Shame on those who voted for it; you know what you did wrong. “You are aware of this.”
The bill, which passed the House with only Republican votes last month, would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, create new tax breaks for tipped wages and overtime, reform Medicaid and food stamps, strengthen border security, and significantly increase military spending. Republican leaders are attempting to pass the Senate bill using a filibuster-proof budget process known as reconciliation.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
“It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt,” Musk wrote in a follow-up message to X. “Congress is making America bankrupt.”
Musk’s remarks spoil his friendly send-off
Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and the social media platform X, left the White House as a senior adviser last week after leading the Department of Government Efficiency for the previous four months. Before signing off, Musk told CBS Sunday Morning that he was “disappointed” by Trump’s reconciliation bill, claiming it will increase the deficit and “undermine” DOGE, which has been working to significantly reduce federal government spending.
However, Musk and Trump appeared to have reconciled when the president welcomed the billionaire tech entrepreneur into the Oval Office for a final news conference with reporters. “We will remember you as we announce billions of dollars of extra waste, fraud and abuse,” Musk told Donald Trump, hailing him as “one of the greatest business leaders and innovators the world has ever produced.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed Musk’s latest criticism of Trump’s tax and policy proposals.
“Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” Leavitt told reporters. “It does not alter the president’s opinion. “This is one big, beautiful bill, and he is sticking to it.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who helped Trump advance the legislation in the House, told reporters that he spoke with Musk for 20 minutes on June 2 and that he is “terribly wrong” about the bill.
“For him to come out and criticize the entire bill is just very disappointing,” Johnson told The Hill. “Very surprising in light of the conversation I had with him yesterday.”
‘I agree with Elon,’ Rand Paul says
Over the weekend, Musk expressed disappointment that Trump had withdrawn his nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, a billionaire commercial astronaut with close ties to Musk.
Trump’s bill would also eliminate $7,500 consumer tax credits for electric vehicle buyers, a policy advocated by former President Joe Biden that has benefited electric car companies such as Musk’s Tesla.
Musk’s fiscal objections to the bill align with those of Republican senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, whose votes are crucial for Trump to pass the legislation with Republican support.
“I agree with Elon,” Paul wrote in a post on X. “We have both seen massive waste in government spending, and we know that adding $5 trillion to the debt is a huge mistake. We can and should do better.”
Paul has stated that he will vote against the bill if no changes are made, prompting Trump to criticize the Kentucky senator earlier in the day in a post on Truth Social. “Rand votes against everything but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are truly insane (losers!). Trump wrote, “The people of Kentucky can not stand him.”
During her June 3 press briefing, Leavitt pushed back on Paul and Johnson’s debt concerns, accusing them of “not having their facts together.” The White House has insisted that the legislation will not increase the deficit, despite the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that it will.
Leavitt stated that the CBO has a history of making inaccurate fiscal projections. Despite its nonpartisan status, she accused the CBO of being “partisan and political” and staffed primarily by Democratic budget analysts.
“We are very confident in our own economic analyses of this bill,” Leavitt said, claiming it will result in $1.6 trillion in savings.