Elon Musk on Tuesday once again criticised US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination”.
The ‘Big Beautiful bill Act’ is currently at the top of Trump’s legislative agenda, with the Republican leader lobbying with his party’s lawmakers in the Senate to pass the bill.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” Musk said about the bill in a post on X.
The public criticism is a sharp turn from Musk, who has been a fierce backer of Trump’s policies till now. A week prior to his departure as the DOGE chief, he had said in an interview that he was “disappointed” by the spending bill. But it was a much milder criticism than what he said on Tuesday. Why is the Tesla and SpaceX CEO against Donald Trump’s spending bill?
Elon Musk’s problems with Donald Trump’s spending bill
According to Elon Musk, Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill Act’ will increase the federal deficit.
“It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt,” Musk said in a post on X.
Through social media posts, Elon Musk has gained support from several fiscally conservative Republicans in the US Senate, which could complicate the bill’s passage in that chamber. He even threatened those who voted for the bill. The legislation has already passed the House of Representatives hurdle.
“In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” he wrote in another X post.’
The business interests of the world’s richest man stand to take a hit if lawmakers approve Trump’s bill, which would slash funding for electric vehicles and related technologies, according to a Reuters report. Musk’s Tesla is the nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer. SpaceX, another of Musk’s companies, has massive defence contracts.
The White House has downplayed Musk’s criticism of the bill, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that it doesn’t change the President’s opinion.
“The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill, it doesn’t change his opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it,” Leavitt told reporters.