Trump Musk is trending again.
This time, Washington’s political pundits are buzzing as President Donald Trump appeared to hint his favourite deportation jab against tech billionaire and former ally Elon Musk, who has supported Trump’s return to the White House.
Although the Trump Musk breakup seems to be old news now, the latest remarks by President Trump raised several eyebrows.
While reiterating his strong stand against the EV mandate, President Donald Trump took a jab at Elon Musk and said that without American subsidies, the Tesla CEO would have shifted to home in South Africa.
“Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. It is ridiculous and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one,” the President wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” he added.
As if this was not enough, the US President even indicated that the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should take a “hard look” at subsidies provided to Elon Musk-led companies.
“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED,” the president said in conclusion to his post.
It is to be noted that Elon Musk himself headed the DOGE after President Trump’s return to the White House and oversaw one of the largest federal workforce reductions in US history.
How Trump Musk fallout start?
It all began quietly as Elon Musk suddenly announced that he was stepping down as DOGE head and would focus on his corporate commitments.
The fallout came out in the open as the tech billionaire spoke strongly against one of Trump’s key legislative priorities, a sweeping tax and domestic policy package often referred to as the “big, beautiful bill.”
The bill proposed deep tax cuts, increased funding for border security, and reductions to Medicaid.
However, critics warned it would dramatically inflate the national debt.
Musk didn’t hold back, slamming the bill as a “disgusting abomination” and calling it “outrageous” and “stuffed with pork.”
He urged lawmakers to reject it and accused its backers of betraying their principles.
His harsh critique caught many Republican leaders off guard and quickly snowballed into a public spat.
Elon Musk began posting old clips of Trump and other GOP figures sounding the alarm over deficit spending, highlighting what he saw as glaring hypocrisy.
Behind the act
Though Elon Musk positioned his criticism as rooted in principle, analysts pointed out that the bill threatened to slash incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles, a move that could hurt Tesla’s bottom line.
The fallout also seemed to reflect Musk’s growing frustration over his waning influence in Washington and the rollback of some of the cost-cutting measures he had long championed.
Beyond the personal spat, the feud carries wider political consequences.
While Musk has been gaining ground with segments of the Republican base, he now risks distancing himself from both Trump loyalists and Democrats, potentially leaving him in a political no-man’s-land.
Tesla stock takes a hit
Trump Musk clash quickly took a financial toll as Tesla’s stock plunged more than 14% in a single day, wiping out roughly $152 billion in market value and dealing a multibillion-dollar blow to Musk’s personal fortune.
After Trump’s recent rant against Elon Musk, the Tesla stock slid almost 5% and is trading around $303.29 at press time.
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