Trump suggests DOGE looks at Musk's companies to save money
On Monday he ramped up his criticism, saying lawmakers who had campaigned on cutting spending but backed the bill "should hang their heads in shame".
"They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth," Musk said.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO called again for a new political party, saying the bill's massive spending indicated "we live in a one-party country, the porky pig party".
"Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people," he wrote.
Musk's criticism of the bill has caused a rift in his relationship with Trump, marking a dramatic shift after the tech billionaire spent nearly $300m (R5.3bn) on Trump's re-election campaign and led the administration's controversial DOGE, a federal cost-cutting initiative.
Musk, the world's richest man, has argued the legislation would greatly increase the national debt and erase the savings he said he achieved through DOGE.
It remains unclear how much sway Musk has over Congress or what effect his opinions might have on the bill's passage. Republicans have expressed concern that his on-again, off-again feud with Trump could hurt their chances to protect their majority in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.
The rift has also led to volatility for Tesla, with shares of the company seeing wild price swings that erased approximately $150bn (R2.6-trillion) of its market value, though it has since recovered.
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He said as things stood, to 'sidetrack' the B-BBEE requirements there would need to be a change in legislation, which is a 'long process'. There were other ways Starlink could speed up its entry into South Africa, including through partnering with local entities that already have the required B-BBEE status, but Musk and Starlink reportedly "really, really do not like the idea of middle-men". The company and its representatives have also been accused of using Musk's proximity to US President Donald Trump and members of his administration to expand across Africa and in other countries. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Colmer said Starlink, which has been 'overhyped' when there were other similar service providers to choose from, was discussed at their conference but was not the main topic. The key points of discussion included spectrum sharing – a major source of opportunities for the smaller local wireless internet service provider (WISP) following Icasa's recent legislation amendment – and artificial intelligence (AI). However, Colmer said his personal highlight was the technical presentations or regulatory discussions – it was the inspirational human stories of innovation and perseverance, especially that of Songezo Mhambi from the underserved Eastern Cape who spoke on "How I Built a WISP". He said Mhambi started with network switches on his bed because the roof was leaking everywhere else, literally sleeping with his network equipment. He fought to get bank funding, overcame incredible hurdles, and now he's expanding and creating employment. Today, Songezo is, among other things, founder and CEO at Mdaswifi, founder at Vice-Tech, a renowned tech entrepreneur and a 'digital evangelist'. Colmer said he wished he could clone Mhambi because people like him are the solution to getting everyone in South Africa connected. A representative from the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) spoke about the connectivity ecosystem, emphasising how different forms of wireless technology can complement rather than simply compete with each other. Various connectivity solutions – from cellular to wi-fi to satellite – each have unique strengths and weaknesses that can together create a robust network ecosystem able to reliably and economically serve communities across South Africa's diverse landscape. Describing the conference as a success and welcoming the 'pragmatic optimism' displayed, Colmer reiterated his view that Starlink was 'overhyped' and dismissed concerns that Musk's constellation was going to kill the smaller wireless connectivity operators. In his conference summary he said: 'Yes, Starlink is coming, but OneWeb is already legally available in South Africa. Amazon's Project Kuiper is on the way. The Chinese are building their own constellation. 'But here's what I think got lost in all the hype: Starlink isn't the WISP killer some people fear it is. It has real limitations – downloading certain apps is problematic, WhatsApp calling isn't ideal. It's going to be complementary rather than primary. In countries that initially moved from WISPs to Starlink, many have actually moved back to WISPs.'
