President Donald Trump is evidently not pleased with Elon Musk’s comments against the “big, beautiful bill,” changing tune while discussing his onetime friend during a press conference in the Oval Office today. During the event, the president responded to Musk by saying he did not know if they would be able to get along anymore.
Trump then discussed Elon’s help in the state of Pennsylvania and mentioned the topic of the electric vehicle tax credit.
“He worked hard and he did a good job. And I’ll be honest, I think he misses the place,” Trump said.
He then added, “Elon and I had a wonderful relationship,” before touting how much the SpaceX CEO supported him prior to this new piece of legislation being put on the table. Trump mentioned how Musk sported a hat that said, “Trump was right about everything.”
The backlash from Musk on the bill surprised Trump and has left him uncertain about their future relationship.
Musk’s attacks have intensified over the course of the last 24 hours. Going a step beyond criticism of the legislation, the owner of social media platform X is now calling on members of Congress to “KILL the BILL.”
He then stated in the post that no one “should be able to stomach” the bill. Another post instructed his 200 million-plus followers to apply pressure to their elected officials to shoot down the “big, beautiful bill,” which he previously called a “disgusting abomination.”
Recently, Musk’s political activity has waned. However, over the course of the last week, he has posted criticisms of the new bill 25 times.
“Mammoth spending bills are bankrupting America! ENOUGH,” Musk stated in one post published on his account. In another, he said, “Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) was asked by ABC News reporter Mary Bruce if he was concerned about senators listening to Musk and not supporting the bill. He replied by saying Senate Republicans “understand kind of the whole, you know, CBO scoring model game here in Washington.”
“At the end of the day, most of our members want to pass a bill that they believe is going to be stimulative,” he added. “[The bill is] going to create growth for the economy, create better-paying jobs and therefore generate more government revenue.”
