Musk should ‘head back home to South Africa,' Trump says amid tax bill feud
Their infamous internet spat, which began in early June, is centred around Musk's opposition to Trump's 'big beautiful bill,' and gained new momentum this week as the controversial legislation moved through Congress and Trump said Musk should return to his country of birth.
Musk laid into the president on X on Sunday, calling the budget proposal 'utterly insane' and 'destructive,' claiming that it will damage future business prospects, cause millions of job losses and lead to tax hikes.
The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!
Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future. https://t.co/TZ9w1g7zHF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 28, 2025
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The tech billionaire also said the bill will 'cause immense strategic harm' to the U.S. and raise operational costs in the solar, wind, battery, geothermal and nuclear industries.
Late Monday, he launched a second wave of insults, saying it would be detrimental to the country's national debt and calling for the creation of a new political party.
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'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!! Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.'
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!!
Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2025
On Tuesday, Trump said the South African-born business mogul may have to 'close up shop' and head back home, while threatening to slash government subsidies given to Musk's companies and turn the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on its former head.
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'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!!!,' Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president later told reporters the same day that 'DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.'
'Wouldn't that be terrible?' he added.
Despite bankrolling Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and helming efforts to eliminate government spending through DOGE, Musk has publicly opposed the tax bill for some time.
Nonetheless, the Tesla owner's attempt to sway Republicans eventually fell flat, with the bill scraping through Congress Tuesday in the face of staunch opposition from both parties.
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Ultimately, Vice-President JD Vance cast the deciding vote for a 51-50 verdict in favour of the highly contentious legislation, which proposes funding cuts to social safety nets, including Medicaid and food aid programs, while financing Trump's nationwide immigration crackdown.
It will also slash financial backing for green energy projects and likely, as Musk claims, pile trillions of dollars onto the national debt.
The White House says the bill will offer some new benefits for working-class and middle-class Americans with tax cuts and the expansion of take-home pay by up to $10,000 annually. According to the White House website, it also seeks to broaden child-care access, increase the child-care tax credit and create newborn savings accounts.
After a tumultuous few days of political infighting, and a reignited war of words between former friends, Trump's bill, which he hopes to ratify by July 4, now has to pass through the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson has warned senators not to deviate too far from what his chamber had already approved during previous rounds of amendments.
— With files from The Associated Press
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