Elon Musk has slammed what he called President Trump’s “ingratitude” and denied he was ever shown his “Big Beautiful Bill” as the war of words between the two former allies escalated on Thursday.
The former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) hit back after Trump told reporters he was “very disappointed” in Musk, following his stinging attacks on the new bill.
“Such ingratitude,” Musk declared, replying to his own post on X claiming that Trump “would have lost the election” without his help.
“False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” he wrote in a second post shared on X on Thursday morning, rebuffing claims from Trump that he had known more about the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” than “anybody sitting here.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was one of the most prominent members of President Trump’s administration in the early months of his second term until his sudden departure last month after just 130 days in his post as a special government employee charged with tackling wasteful spending.
Musk appeared to leave the White House on good terms Friday, with Trump even gifting him a ceremonial key to the executive mansion.
But on Thursday, Trump accused his former administration member of having “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” as he addressed the media from the White House ahead of his sit-down with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
As the riff between Trump and Musk escalated further, the former DOGE chief even suggested founding a fresh political movement.
“Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?” He asked his followers in a poll on X.
Musk also reshared old X posts from Trump talking about balancing the budget — some from as far back as 2012 — as an apparent accusation of hypocrisy.
Here is the latest on Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s feud
Musk also claimed Trump’s bill, which he took to branding “The Big Ugly Bill,” would increase the US deficit to $2.5 trillion in a separate rant on X.
“Oh and some food for thought as they ponder this question: Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years …” he wrote on X in response to a post from right-wing influencer Laura Loomer.
Some Republicans came to Musk’s defense in the wake of the explosive fallout on Thursday.
“Elon Musk is on point. Last year in my Festivus Report, I exposed that in 2024 alone, Americans paid $892 B in interest. That’s 10% of the entire federal budget—gone. Not for bridges, schools, or healthcare. Just to keep the creditors at bay,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul wrote on X.
Fellow Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie also praised Musk, sharing a screengrab of an article in which the world’s richest man called for the ending of EV tax credits.”Some politicians get into politics to enrich themselves. Maybe that’s why they can’t imagine someone would judge a bill based on what’s good for the country instead of what’s good for their wallet,” he wrote on X.
