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,” Musk wrote Monday evening on X. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”
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 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, Trump was asked whether he would seek the deportation of 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 Trump’s comment, Musk wrote Tuesday morning 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 Musk expressed regret over some posts that he said “went too far.” Now they are reengaging over the massive $3.3 trillion bill that embodies Trump’s agenda.
Musk, who was one of 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. 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 Trump, 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 $190 billion in federal spending to date.
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 Musk to divert his focus from Washington back to his companies.
Beside his concern about the bill increasing the national debt, 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 Musk’s other businesses — have objected to the bill’s elimination of a $7,500 electric-vehicle tax credit, along with its gutting of energy incentives for initiatives such as wind and solar power.
Musk’s turnabout on the Trump agenda was a welcome development for some who have long opposed him.
“Hard to believe I’m siding with the guy who spent $300 million to get Trump elected, but he’s not wrong,” wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) on X. “Republicans’ plan to run up the national debt to hand out giant tax breaks to billionaires will be an economic disaster.”
Musk’s earlier embrace of Trump — and the $288 million he spent to help elect 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 Musk come around on his apparent view of 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 Musk ally, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject, said Musk’s intervention in 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 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 Monday night. “Working families, small business owners and seniors will benefit from the president’s Big Beautiful Bill. It delivers $1.2 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, Musk posted an image of the character Pinocchio under the word “liar” and the words, “Voted to increase America’s DEBT by $5,000,000,000,000.”
“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,” Musk wrote.
