President Donald Trump and Elon Musk renewed hostilities Monday night as the two traded barbs on social media.
Musk spent the evening threatening to defeat many of the same Republican lawmakers he helped elect last year if they vote for Trump’s signature “big, beautiful bill,” while Trump threatened to cut the government contracts and subsidies that benefit Musk’s businesses.
The tech billionaire railed against the growing government debt, calling the legislation an “insane spending bill.”
“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!” he wrote on X. “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
He previewed what his attacks on those lawmakers would look like:
Trump fired back on Truth Social by suggesting that Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, set up to fight waste, fraud, and abuse in government, could next target Musk’s own companies.
Trump wrote:
Musk said he had no problem with that, writing on X: “I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now.”
He agreed with another message, saying that it should also include oil and gas subsidies.
He even threatened to form a new political party, the America Party, if the bill passed.
Musk spent roughly $291 million during the 2024 election cycle, most notably to help Trump, according to OpenSecrets.org. He became a top campaign surrogate for Trump and, after the election, the two seemed almost inseparable.
Once in office, Trump tasked Musk with setting up his DOGE unit to cut government spending. When Musk’s time in government came to an end ― as a “special government employee,” he was limited by law to 130 days ― Trump held an Oval Office event in May honoring the billionaire.
Trump gave Musk a ceremonial key to the White House and thanked him for bringing “a colossal change.”
But only days later, Musk turned on Trump, slamming the “big, beautiful bill” as a “disgusting abomination” and urging Americans to kill the legislation. He also said Trump hasn’t released the files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein because he’s in them.
“That is the real reason they have not been made public,” Musk wrote. “Have a nice day, DJT!”
Musk admitted about a week later that he “went too far” in his attacks on Trump and deleted the Epstein tweet and a number of others, and things seemed to cool off... until Monday.