Donald Trump’s decision to increase the budget deficit instead of cutting costs has become the last straw, the billionaire says
Elon Musk has admitted the sharp budget deficit hike had prompted him to change his stance on US President Donald Trump and speak out against his policies.
Musk made the admission in a thread on X when he was asked by a social media user what prompted him to go from “loving” Trump “as much as a straight man can love another” to opposing the US president and attacking his “efforts.”
“Increasing the deficit from an already insane $2 [trillion] under Biden to $2.5T. This will bankrupt the country,” Musk replied.
Musk became one of the key Trump backers in his triumphant return to the White House last November. Following the president’s inauguration, the tech billionaire became one of the key figures of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary organization established to cut budget costs and excessive federal spending.
The Trump-Musk honeymoon, however, has turned out to be short, as the billionaire stepped down from his government post last month. Since then, Musk has been sharply criticizing Trump’s flagship legislation, dubbed the “big, beautiful bill,” which envisions massive increases in spending, cuts to social programs, and a sharp increase to the budget deficit limit.
Musk and Trump have been locked in a recurring war of words, with the US president accusing his former ally of receiving more US government subsidies “than any human being in history,” threatening to set out DOGE against him, and even mulling a potential deportation of the South African-born entrepreneur.
This week, the “big, beautiful bill” narrowly passed the US Senate and House, and the controversial legislation was signed into law by Trump on July 4.
Musk pledged to launch a political force of his own in case the spending bill makes it through. The billionaire apparently lived by his promise, announcing on Independence Day the creation of a new America Party, which would purportedly represent the “80% in the middle.”
Musk has signaled he was seeking to make his new party an active political force by the midterm elections next year, suggesting he would focus on a handful of seats to take advantage of “the razor-thin legislative margins” and therefore have “the deciding vote on contentious laws.”
