Trump says will ‘take a look' at deporting Musk
Trump also said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) -- which Musk headed before stepping down late May -- may train its sights on the Tesla and SpaceX founder's government subsidies.
'I don't know. We'll have to take a look,' Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he would consider deporting Musk.
'We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.'
Trump doubled down on the threat when he said he believed Musk was attacking his so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill' because he was annoyed that it had dropped measures to support electric vehicles (EV).
'He's losing his EV mandate. He's very upset about things, but you know, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Elon can lose a lot more than that.'
Trump made similar comments on his Truth Social network late Monday, saying that 'without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.'
Musk, the world's richest person, was Trump's biggest donor in the 2024 election and initially maintained a near constant presence at the newly elected president's side.
They had an acrimonious public falling out this month over the bill and the tycoon has reprised his criticisms in recent days, accusing Republicans of abandoning efforts to place the United States at the front of the EV and clean energy revolution.
Musk has also renewed his calls for the formation of a new political party called the 'America Party' if the bill passed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
31 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
G7 urges talks to resume for deal on Iran nuclear programme
The G7 foreign ministers endorse the Israel-Iran ceasefire, emphasising the importance of finding a diplomatic solution. (AP pic) OTTAWA : Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations said on Monday they supported the ceasefire between Israel and Iran and urged for negotiations to resume for a deal to address Iran's nuclear program, according to a joint statement. Since April, Iran and the US have held talks aimed at finding a new diplomatic solution regarding Iran's nuclear program. Tehran says its programme is peaceful and Israel and its allies say they want to ensure Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon. 'We call for the resumption of negotiations, resulting in a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran's nuclear programme,' the G7 foreign ministers said. Last week, Trump announced a ceasefire between US ally Israel and its regional rival Iran to halt a war that began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran. The Israel-Iran conflict had raised alarms in a region already on edge since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. Before the ceasefire was announced, Washington struck Iran's nuclear sites and Iran targeted a US base in Qatar in retaliation. The G7 foreign ministers said they urged 'all parties to avoid actions that could further destabilise the region.' US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff has said talks between Washington and Tehran were 'promising' and that Washington was hopeful for a long-term peace deal. The G7 top diplomats denounced threats against the head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday, after a hardline Iranian newspaper said IAEA boss Rafael Grossi should be tried and executed as an Israeli agent. On June 12, the UN nuclear watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Israel is the only Middle Eastern country believed to have nuclear weapons and said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not. The UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, says it has 'no credible indication' of an active, coordinated weapons programme in Iran.
Free Malaysia Today
31 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Senate vote-a-rama to pass Trump's US$3.3 trillion bill extends into second day
Beginning on Monday and ongoing for over 16 hours, it was still unclear how long the voting would last. (EPA Images pic) WASHINGTON : US Senate Republicans in the early hours of Tuesday morning were still trying to pass President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, despite divisions within the party about its expected US$3.3 trillion hit to the nation's debt pile. Senators were voting in a marathon session known as a 'vote-a-rama,' featuring a series of amendments by Republicans and the minority Democrats, part of the arcane process Republicans are using to bypass Senate rules that normally require 60 of the chamber's 100 members to agree on legislation. Beginning on Monday and ongoing for over 16 hours, it was still unclear how long the voting would last. Lawmakers said the process had been held up partly by the need to determine whether amendments complied with special budgetary rules. Shortly after midnight, Senate majority leader John Thune told reporters the vote-a-rama was 'hopefully on the home stretch and then we'll see where the votes are.' Republicans can afford to lose no more than three votes in either chamber to pass a bill the Democrats are united in opposition to. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its assessment on Sunday of the bill's hit to the US$36.2 trillion U.S. debt pile. The Senate version is estimated to cost US$3.3 trillion, US$800 billion more than the version passed last month in the House of Representatives. Many Republicans dispute that claim, contending that extending existing policy will not add to the debt. Nonetheless, international bond investors see incentives to diversify out of the US treasury market. Democrats, meanwhile, hope the latest, eye-widening figure could stoke enough anxiety among fiscally minded conservatives to get them to buck their party, which controls both chambers of Congress. 'This bill, as we have said for months, steals people's healthcare, jacks up their electricity bill to pay for tax breaks for billionaires,' Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech to the Senate. Thune countered that the tax cuts will help families and small businesses as he defended spending reductions to social safety net programmes. He said Medicaid was growing at an unsustainable rate and there were some improvements and reforms to make it more efficient. The Senate narrowly advanced the tax cut, immigration, border and military spending bill in a procedural vote late on Saturday, voting 51-49 to open debate on the 940-page megabill. Trump wants the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday. Bill politics Amendments proposed by Democratic senators such as the proposed limiting cuts to Medicaid were rejected by the Republican majority. Embedded in the Senate Republicans' bill are several hot-button political issues, like a prohibition of Medicaid funding for a list of almost 30 medical procedures related to gender transition, as well as an increase of immigration-related funding for criminal and gang checks for unaccompanied migrant children, including examinations of 'gang-related tattoos' for children as young as 12 years old. Early on Tuesday, Democrats and Republicans voted down an attempt by Republican Senator Susan Collins to cushion the impact of Medicaid cuts on rural health facilities by doubling federal support to US$50 billion over five years and paying for the increase by raising the top federal tax rate. The measure still drew support from 18 Republicans. Elon Musk, formerly appointed by Trump to spearhead his government cost-cutting plan before the pair had a public falling-out in June over the budget bill, threatened on Monday to target Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm election. '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!' Musk posted on X. He also reiterated his interest in a new political party and accused lawmakers in both parties of belonging to the 'porky pig party', a dig at government spending levels. The US chamber of commerce, which says the majority of its members are small businesses, backs the bill. However, John Arensmeyer, who represents more than 85,000 small enterprises at the Small Business Majority, cautioned that the business tax relief is currently skewed to the wealthiest top 5% of small businesses. Debt ceiling deadline The Republican measure contains a US$5 trillion debt ceiling increase – US$1 trillion more than the House's bill – but failure to pass some version would present lawmakers with a serious deadline later this summer, when the treasury department could come close to exhausting its borrowing authority and thus risk a devastating default. The debt limit increase has caused Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky to come out in opposition to the bill, joining fellow Republican Tillis, who decried its cuts to Medicaid and clean energy initiatives. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate bill would result in about 11.8 million additional uninsured people, surpassing estimates for the House's version. If the Senate succeeds in passing the bill, it will then go to the House, where members are also divided, with some angry about its cost and others worried about cuts to the Medicaid program. The megabill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security. Senate Republicans, who reject the budget office's estimates on the cost of the legislation, are set on using an alternative calculation method that does not factor in costs from extending the 2017 tax cuts. Outside tax experts, like Andrew Lautz from the nonpartisan think tank Bipartisan Policy Center, call it a 'magic trick'. Using this calculation method, the Senate Republicans' budget bill appears to cost substantially less and seems to save US$500 billion, according to the BPC analysis.
Free Malaysia Today
31 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Musk vows to punish lawmakers who back Trump's spending bill
Elon Musk renewed call for new political party amid backlash over Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill. (AP pic) WASHINGTON : Billionaire Elon Musk on Monday renewed his criticism of US President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, vowing to unseat lawmakers who backed it after campaigning on limiting government spending. After weeks of relative silence following a feud with Trump over the legislation, Musk rejoined the debate on Saturday as the Senate took up the package, calling it 'utterly insane and destructive' in a post on social media platform X. 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!' 'And 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 'that 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 US$300 million on Trump's re-election campaign and led the administration's controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a federal cost-cutting initiative. Musk, the world's richest man, has argued that the legislation would greatly increase the national debt and erase the savings he says he has 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. But 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 US$150 billion of its market value, though it has since recovered.
