Is Elon Musk becoming a thorn in Donald Trump’s side? Is the billionaire entrepreneur threatening to undermine Trump’s MAGA coalition?
What is clear is Musk is not happy with congressional Republicans and their efforts to pass what amounts to an omnibus spending bill that Trump has dubbed his One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
Musk famously threw his support behind Trump during the 2024 campaign, spending some $260 million in his effort to see him elected. Musk also campaigned with Trump, calling him “brilliant.” Musk promised that he would be “willing to serve” in Trump’s administration, which, of course, Musk famously did, leading Trump’s rebranded Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE.
For those months, for the most part, all appeared rosy between Trump and Musk. However, upon Musk’s time-mandated departure from DOGE, his tune suddenly changed. While he did not express it during Trump’s administration, it appears that Musk was not particularly keen on Trump’s signature spending bill.
Upon leaving, Musk ignited a feud, blasting the bill as full of government waste, even at one point claiming that Trump was among the individuals on Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous list.
Trump hit back, asserting that Musk’s frustration with the bill had nothing to do with its cost; instead, he was objecting to the electric vehicle purchase incentives that had been stripped from the legislation.
While that “divorce” was perhaps inevitable, cooler heads eventually prevailed, and Musk backed off his social media tirade; the two seemed to mend their relationship. All appeared copasetic until this week. As Republicans in the Senate wrangled to pass their version of the OBBBA, Musk once again weighed in.
When North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis voted against moving the legislation forward, he faced harsh criticism from Trump, who threatened to support a primary challenge against him. Tillis announced he would not seek reelection, which apparently prompted Musk to once again speak out against the bill.
This time, Musk called out Republican lawmakers, warning them that he would support an effort to primary any of them who voted for the OBBBA. As Musk argued on his social media platform, X, “It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country — the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” He then added, “Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.”
Musk continued: “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! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.” He further promised, “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”
Unsurprisingly, Trump hit back.
Posting on his own platform, Truth Social, Trump resurrected his prior claim against Musk, writing: “Elon may get more subsidies 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.”
Then he raised the stakes, suggesting that DOGE should investigate Musk, noting, “He gets a lot of subsidies.”
Against the backdrop of the salvos flying between Musk and Trump, the Senate finally passed its version of the OBBBA, which now heads back to the House to begin the reconciliation process.
This means that the feud between Musk and Trump will likely continue. Furthermore, it seems that the original rift was never fully resolved. The question is, what damage will this cause amongst Trump’s broad collection of MAGA supporters? Will Musk’s promise to form a new America Party serve to break off a significant number of Republican voters to diminish GOP chances of holding onto control of both chambers of Congress? That’s unlikely, but at the same time, one of MAGA’s core complaints has been the “uniparty” in Washington.
Musk clearly has the financial means to address a legitimate problem: America’s massive debt now exceeds $37 trillion. However, is that enough of an issue to peel voters away from Trump?
Time will tell. However, as it stands, Trump may have to contend with the growing issue of Musk as an adversary as he seeks to advance his agenda over the next few months, if not years.
