Trump says he will ‘take a look' at deporting Musk
WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump said today he could consider deporting Elon Musk, after the South African-born billionaire slammed his flagship spending bill.
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 yesterday, 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 US 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
Malay Mail
12 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
Quad launches minerals initiative to curb China's grip on critical supplies
WASHINGTON, July 2 — The United States, Japan, India and Australia pledged Tuesday to work together to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals, as worries grow over China's dominance in resources vital to new technologies. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed his counterparts from the so-called 'Quad' to Washington in a shift of focus to Asia, after spending much of his first six months on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and on President Donald Trump's domestic priorities such as migration. The four countries said in a joint statement that they were establishing the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, aimed at 'collaborating on securing and diversifying' supply chains. They offered little detail but made clear the goal was to reduce reliance on China, which has used restrictions as leverage as the United States in turn curbs its access to semiconductors and as Trump threatens steep tariffs — including on Quad countries. 'Reliance on any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production exposes our industries to economic coercion, price manipulation and supply chain disruptions,' the statement said. The ministers were careful not to mention China by name but voiced 'serious concerns regarding dangerous and provocative actions' in the South China Sea and East China Sea that 'threaten peace and stability in the region.' China holds major reserves of several key minerals including the vast majority of the world's graphite, which is crucial for electric vehicles. In brief remarks alongside the other ministers, Rubio said he has 'personally been very focused' on diversifying supply chains and wanted 'real progress.' US refocus on Asia The four-way partnership was first conceived by late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who saw an alliance of democracies surrounding China — which has repeatedly alleged that the Quad is a way to contain it. Rubio had welcomed the Quad foreign ministers on January 21 in his first meeting after Trump's inauguration, seen as a sign the new administration would prioritise engagement with like-minded countries to counter China. But to the surprise of many, China has not topped the early agenda of Trump, who has spoken respectfully about his counterpart Xi Jinping and reached a truce with Beijing to avoid a wider trade war between the world's two largest economies. Trump is expected to travel to India later this year for a Quad summit. Both the Indian and Japanese foreign ministers said that they wanted the Quad to focus on a 'free and open Indo-Pacific' — a phrasing that is a veiled allusion to opposing Chinese dominance in Asia. 'It is essential that nations of the Indo-Pacific have the freedom of choice, so essential to make right decisions on development and security,' Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said. At Jaishankar's urging, the Quad condemned a May attack on the Indian side of Kashmir that killed mostly Hindu civilians and called for 'the perpetrators, organizers and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay.' India in May launched air strikes in Pakistan, which it blamed for the attack. Pakistan denied responsibility and responded with its own attacks on the Indian military. In a key concern for Japan, the Quad condemned North Korea for its 'destabilising launches' of missiles and insisted on its 'complete denuclearization.' Trump, in one of the most startling moves of his first term, met with North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong Un, helping ease tensions but producing no lasting agreement. Despite common ground on China, Quad members have differed on other hotspots, with the joint statement not mentioning Ukraine or Iran. India has maintained its long relationship with Russia despite the invasion of Ukraine, while both India and Japan also have historically enjoyed cordial ties with Iran. — AFP
The Star
33 minutes ago
- The Star
DOGE eats Musk? Billionaire entrepreneur's companies at risk as he reignites feud with Trump
WASHINGTON: Elon Musk may find out what happens when DOGE bites man. The billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner who catapulted his zealous embrace of President Donald Trump into a powerful position, slashing government spending, now risks sweeping cuts to his own bottom line after resuming the feud that led to their very public bitter split last month. Musk's renewed heckling of Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts bill, which passed the Senate on Tuesday, threatens to put billions of dollars of his government contracts in jeopardy if Trump retaliates. The rupture of their tenuous peace has resulted in a wobbling of the stock price of a market-moving company and led the president to muse about deporting Musk to his native South Africa. In a Frankenstein-style twist, as Musk volleyed fresh critiques about the cost of Trump's signature legislation, Trump mused Tuesday about turning Musk's Department of Government Efficiency back on its creator. "DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,' Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a tour of a new immigration detention center in Florida. Trump also suggested in an early morning social media post that if Musk lost his government contracts, he "would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.' Asked by a reporter later if he would deport Musk, Trump paused and said, "I don't know. We'll have to take a look.' In response, Musk wrote on X: "So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.' Tesla and SpaceX did not respond to messages seeking comment about their CEO. Musk has called Trump's big bill a financial boondoggle for America that would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries. He's not limiting himself to harsh assessments on social media. On Monday, he threatened to reinsert himself into politics and try to oust every member of Congress who votes for the bill. "They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,' Musk said in one post. In other posts, he branded Republicans "the PORKY PIG PARTY!!' and threatened to create a new political party. Trump has said Musk is actually irritated by the legislation's dramatic rollback of the Biden-era green energy tax breaks for electric vehicles and related technologies. Musk has denied this, but the rollback could hurt Tesla's finances. "Elon may get more subsidy 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,' Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social media network. Musk became a US citizen in 2002, according to a biography of him by Walter Isaacson. It's unclear if Trump would take the extraordinary step of having the government explore the rare process of removing his citizenship, known as denaturalization. Musk's rocket and satellite company, SpaceX, is also in Trump's crosshairs. "No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE,' Trump said in his post. "BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!' SpaceX has received billions of federal dollars to help send astronauts into space and perform other work for NASA, including a contract to send a team from the space agency to the moon next year. But the most immediate fallout of their feud was the tumbling stock in Tesla, down 5.3% on Tuesday. Tesla stock's performance can have an outsize impact on the stock market index funds in which millions of Americans' 401(k)s have invested their retirement savings. The electric vehicle maker is one of the Magnificent Seven, the group of companies that includes Apple and Google parent Alphabet and that account for about a third of the value of the S&P 500. Musk's social media outbursts come at a delicate time for his car company. Tesla is just a week into its test run of its self-driving "robotaxi' service in Austin, Texas. Musk needs that test to succeed if he hopes to make good on his promise to investors that he will be able to quickly offer the service in other cities over the next few months. One possible hurdle to that: federal safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requested information from Tesla last week after videos began circulating on social media of a few of its autonomous cabs in Austin driving erratically, including one heading down an opposing lane. That followed a NHTSA request for data last month on how the driverless taxis will perform in low-visibility conditions, which itself followed an investigation last year into 2.4 million Teslas equipped with full self-driving software after several accidents, including one that killed a pedestrian. Musk needs robotaxis to take off because Tesla's main business of selling cars is going poorly. Musk has acknowledged that boycotts by people angry with his political views have hurt sales, but he has largely blamed a less frightening, temporary factor: People are so excited about Tesla's forthcoming latest version of their Model Y SUV that they decided to hold off on purchases for a few months. But now that the new version is available, and sales are still tanking. Figures out last week showed sales in Europe plunged 28% in May over the prior year, the fifth month in a row of big drops. A new batch of sales data, including the US and other parts of the world, is coming out on Wednesday. The irony is that Musk's social media spat with Trump threatens his businesses from both sides. People won't buy his cars because of the memories of his friendship with Trump, and now that and his other businesses could get hurt because that friendship has soured. "In a bizzarro world, he's alienated both sides,' said Dan Ives, a Wedbush Securities financial analyst. "It seems impossible, but he's actually done it.' – AP
Malaysiakini
33 minutes ago
- Malaysiakini
Trump: Israel agrees to 'necessary conditions' to finalise 60-day Gaza ceasefire
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Israel has agreed to the 'necessary conditions' to finalise a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. According to Anadolu Ajansi, Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, said his representatives held a 'long and productive meeting' with Israeli officials earlier in the day.
