Trump suggests Doge look at Musk's companies to save money, World News
Trump's comments come after billionaire Elon Musk renewed his criticism on Monday of Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, vowing to unseat lawmakers who backed it after campaigning on limiting government spending.
"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. 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 said in a post on Truth Social.
In response to Trump's post, Musk, in his own social media platform X, said "I am literally saying cut it all. Now."
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 (S$382 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 $150 billion of its market value, though it has since recovered.
[[nid:719679]]
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
29 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Hong Kong steps up defence of currency's US dollar peg as fixed range tested again
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Hong Kong's currency peg has been strained by volatility in the US dollar. - Hong Kong's de facto central bank ramped up purchases of the city's currency as it sought to defend a peg that has been strained by volatility in the US dollar. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on July 2 that it bought HK$20.02 billion (S$3.25 billion) of the city's currency after indicative pricing suggested the local dollar touched the weak end of its permitted trading range in late New York trading overnight. That is more than double the HK$9.42 billion it purchased last week. The Hong Kong dollar was little changed at 7.8497 on July 2, after the intervention. The Hong Kong dollar has been through a roller-coaster ride in recent months, swinging between both ends of its trading range. And for the first time since the current band came into effect in 2005, the authorities had to defend the peg on both sides within just one year. The wild swings have also intensified debate about the sustainability of the currency's peg, even though there are no signs that a change is imminent. Market watchers had talked about the possibility of widening the narrow peg, linking the Hong Kong dollar to China's renminbi or even free-float the currency altogether. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World US Senate approves divisive Trump spending Bill World Trump escalates feud with Musk, threatens Tesla and SpaceX support Business Cathay Cineplexes gets demand for $3.4 million in arrears from Jem landlord Singapore 3,800 private candidates in Singapore to take O- and A-level exams in 2025 Multimedia Right on track: Meet the new JB-Singapore RTS Link train Business Binance to keep hundreds of staff in Singapore despite crackdown, sources say Singapore 'He fought till the end': Man who survived acid attack as a baby dies of cancer at 26 World Trump urges Hamas to accept 'final proposal' for 60-day Gaza ceasefire In May, a slump in the US dollar spurred a rush for Hong Kong's currency, prompting the HKMA to flood the financial system with cash in an effort to cool the rally that threatened the 7.75-per-US dollar strong end of the band. The operation, however, triggered a sharp reversal of the city's dollar, and it plunged all the way to 7.85, the opposite end of the trading range. Still, even after latest round of intervention this week, Hong Kong's aggregate balance – a component of its monetary base – will only fall to HK$144.2 billion. That means the supply of cash will remain abundant and local funding costs are still low. Therefore, the so-called carry trade, which involves traders borrowing the Hong Kong dollar cheaply and selling it against higher yielding greenback, is still lucrative. So the local currency can still hit the weak end of the band soon again, analysts say. 'It may take more time for liquidity conditions to normalize this time around, and intervention will go on as long as flush liquidity condition continues,' said InTouch Capital Markets strategist Andy Ji. Now, all eyes are on Hong Kong's interbank rates, known as Hibor, which has remained low despite the HKMA's liquidity drainage. The spread between one-month Hibor and its US counterpart stood near a record high earlier this week. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
38 minutes ago
- Business Times
US Senate passes Trump's sweeping tax-and spending bill, setting up House battle
[WASHINGTON] US Senate Republicans passed President Donald Trump's massive tax-and-spending bill on Tuesday (Jul 1) by the narrowest of margins, advancing a package that would slash taxes, reduce social safety net programmes and boost military and immigration enforcement spending while adding US$3.3 trillion to the national debt. The legislation now heads to the House of Representatives for possible final approval, though a handful of Republicans there have already voiced opposition to some of the Senate provisions. Trump wants to sign it into law by the Independence Day holiday on Friday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said he aimed to meet that deadline. The measure would extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts, give new tax breaks for income from tips and overtime pay and increase spending on the military and immigration enforcement. It also would cut about US$930 billion of spending on the Medicaid health programme and food aid for low-income Americans and repeal many of Democratic former President Joe Biden's green-energy incentives. The legislation, which has exposed Republican divides over the nation's fast-growing US$36.2 trillion debt, would raise the federal government's self-imposed debt ceiling by US$5 trillion. Congress must raise the cap in the coming months or risk a devastating default. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The Senate passed the measure in a 51-50 vote with Vice-President JD Vance breaking a tie after three Republicans - Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky - joined all 47 Democrats in voting against the bill. The vote followed an all-night debate in which Republicans grappled with the bill's price tag and its impact on the US healthcare system. Much of the late horse-trading was aimed at winning over Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who had signlaled she would vote against the bill without significant alterations. The final Senate bill included two provisions that helped secure her vote: one that sends more food-aid funding to Alaska and several other states, and another providing US$50 billion to help rural hospitals cope with the sweeping cuts to Medicaid. 'Not fiscal responsibility' The vote in the House, where Republicans hold a 220-212 majority, is likely to be close. Johnson, the House speaker, said during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity that Republican leadership would seek to move the legislation through the Rules Committee on Wednesday morning and get it before the entire House before Friday's holiday, unless travel plans were upset by thunderstorms that have menaced the Washington area. 'Hopefully we're voting on this by tomorrow or Thursday at latest, depending on the weather delays and travel and all the rest - that's the wild card that we can't control,' Johnson said. A White House official told reporters that Trump would be 'deeply involved' in pushing House Republicans to approve the bill. 'It's a great bill. There is something for everyone,' Trump said at an event in Florida on Tuesday. 'And I think it's going to go very nicely in the House.' An initial version passed with only two votes to spare in May, and several House Republicans have said they do not support the Senate version, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will add US$800 billion more to the national debt than the House version. Republicans have struggled to balance conservatives' demands for deeper spending cuts to reduce the impact on the deficit with moderate lawmakers' concerns that the Medicaid cuts could hurt their constituents, including service cutbacks in rural areas. The House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline conservatives who repeatedly threatened to withhold their support for the tax bill, has criticised the Senate version's price tag. 'There's a significant number who are concerned,' Republican Representative Chip Roy, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said of the Senate bill. A group of more moderate House Republicans, especially those who represent lower-income areas, have objected to the steeper Medicaid cuts in the Senate's plan. Meanwhile, Republicans have faced separate concerns from a handful of House Republicans from high-tax states, including New York, New Jersey and California, who have demanded a larger tax break for state and local tax payments. The legislation has also drawn criticism from billionaire Elon Musk, the former Trump ally who has railed against the bill's enormous cost and vowed to back challengers to Republican lawmakers in next year's midterm elections. House Democrats are expected to remain unanimously opposed to the bill. 'This is the largest assault on American healthcare in history,' House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters. 'It's the largest assault on nutrition in American history.' Tax breaks, immigration crackdown, tighter benefits The Senate bill would deliver some of its biggest benefits to the top 1 per cent of US households, earning US$663,000 or more in 2025, according to the Tax Foundation. These high earners would gain the most from the bill's tax cuts, the CBO has said. Independent analysts have said the bill's tightening of eligibility for food and health safety net programmes would effectively reduce poor Americans' incomes and increase their costs for food and healthcare. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecast that nearly 12 million more people would become uninsured under the Senate plan. The bill's increase in the national debt effectively serves as a wealth transfer from younger to older Americans, nonpartisan analysts have said. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the vote 'covered this chamber in shame,' adding that the bill would be 'ripping health care away from millions of Americans, taking the food out of the mouths of hungry kids.' Republicans rejected the cost estimate generated by the CBO's longstanding methodology and have argued the Medicaid cuts would only root out 'waste, fraud and abuse' from the system. REUTERS
Straits Times
44 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Quad ministers condemn April attack in Indian Kashmir without naming Pakistan
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar speaks as Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stand together at the start of their meeting of the Indo-Pacific Quad at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 1, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque WASHINGTON - The Quad grouping of the United States, India, Japan and Australia called on Tuesday for the perpetrators of an Islamist militant attack that killed 26 in India-administered Kashmir to be brought to justice without delay. The April 22 attack sparked heavy fighting between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan in the latest escalation of a decades-old rivalry as India blamed it on Pakistan, which denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation. The U.S. State Department issued a joint statement by the foreign ministers of the grouping, who met in Washington, but stopped short of naming Pakistan or blaming Islamabad. "The Quad unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism," the ministers said in the statement. They called on all members of the United Nations to cooperate actively with "all relevant authorities" in delivering justice to the "perpetrators, organizers, and financiers of this reprehensible act", without any delay. India is an increasingly important U.S. partner in Washington's effort to counter China's rising influence in Asia while Pakistan is a U.S. ally. On May 7, Indian jets bombed sites across the border that New Delhi described as "terrorist infrastructure", setting off an exchange of attacks between the two countries by fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery that killed dozens until a ceasefire on May 10. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World US Senate approves divisive Trump spending Bill World Trump escalates feud with Musk, threatens Tesla and SpaceX support Business Cathay Cineplexes gets demand for $3.4 million in arrears from Jem landlord Singapore 3,800 private candidates in Singapore to take O- and A-level exams in 2025 Multimedia Right on track: Meet the new JB-Singapore RTS Link train Business Binance to keep hundreds of staff in Singapore despite crackdown, sources say Singapore 'He fought till the end': Man who survived acid attack as a baby dies of cancer at 26 World Trump urges Hamas to accept 'final proposal' for 60-day Gaza ceasefire The ceasefire was first announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on social media after Washington held talks with both sides, but India has differed with Trump's claims that it resulted from his intervention and threats to sever trade talks. India's position has been that New Delhi and Islamabad must resolve their problems directly and with no outside involvement. On Monday, India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, restated its position that trade was not a factor in the ceasefire. "Relationships will never be free of issues," he said, referring to the United States, adding, "What matters is the ability to deal with it and to keep that trend going in the positive direction." REUTERS
