Elon Musk and President Trump in the Oval Office in February. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Scoop: Four reasons Musk attacked Trump’s “big beautiful bill”
By Marc Caputo
Elon Musk blasted President Trump‘s legacy legislation Tuesday, casting it as a bloated mess. But two sources who have spoken to Musk say he was frustrated at failing to win favorable treatment in the bill and the administration at large.
Why it matters: Musk’s post on X calling Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” a “disgusting abomination” of pork spending blindsided Trump’s team when it was posted during a White House press briefing — and signaled the escalating tension that shadowed Musk’s departure from government last week.
- Musk had criticized Trump’s signature bill before, but before Tuesday afternoon his rhetoric had been far more restrained and muted.
The big picture: Musk and Trump remain friends and allies, the two people in frequent communication with both told Axios. But they said Trump was somewhat irked by Musk’s social media sabotage.
- “Elon was butthurt,” one source said.
- A Musk spokesperson could not be reached.
Zoom in: The sources familiar with the Trump-Musk relationship say there appeared to be four inflection points that led to his caustic attack on Trump’s bill:
1. The legislation cuts the electric vehicle tax credit that helps car makers like Musk’s Tesla. As of late April, his company had spent at least $240,000 lobbying on behalf of the credit and other company matters. Behind the scenes, sources say, Musk also advocated for the measure in the legislation, but to no avail.
2. Musk was working at the White House as what’s called a “special government employee,” and he had discussed trying to stay in that role beyond the 130-day time limit set by statute for the unpaid advisory position. But ultimately, White House officials said he couldn’t keep serving in that capacity.
3. Musk also wanted the Federal Aviation Administration to use his Starlink satellite system for national air traffic control, the sources said. But the administration balked at it because of the appearance of a conflict of interest and for technological reasons. “You can’t have air traffic control just run off satellites,” the second source said.
4. The final straw for Musk appeared to come Saturday night, when Trump abruptly announced he was withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman, a Musk ally, to be NASA administrator.
The intrigue: After Isaacman’s nomination was dropped, word quickly spread in the White House that Sergio Gor — the director of the Office of Presidential Personnel who had clashed with Musk — was behind the decision.
- “This was Sergio’s out-the-door ‘f**k you’ to Musk,” one White House official said.
- But two administration insiders said that wasn’t the case: Senators had complained about Isaacman for being a Democratic donor, the insiders said, and the White House wanted a Republican loyalist.
- “Perception is reality, though, and I’m pretty sure Elon thought the NASA situation was a last insult,” the White House official said. “So here we are.”
Go Deeper:
Trump threatens to cancel Musk’s government contracts as feud boils over
By April Rubin,
President Trump and Elon Musk during a news conference in the Oval Office on May 30. Photo: Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump suggested he could cancel billions of dollars of government contracts with Elon Musk’s companies, accusing his former adviser and biggest political donor of going “crazy.”
Why it matters: The close relationship between two of the most powerful men in the world is imploding in real time, triggered by Musk’s scathing criticism of Trump’s signature legislation.
- Musk escalated the conflict dramatically with a tweet Thursday claiming that “Trump would have lost the election” without him.
- “Such ingratitude,” Musk added, before unleashing a barrage of additional tweets insulting Republicans and floating a new political party.
The latest: “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday afternoon.
- “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” Trump added.
- “Such an obvious lie. So sad,” Musk shot back.
Catch up quick: “Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office appearance alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Thursday. “I don’t know if we will anymore.”
- The president noted that Musk hadn’t said anything “about me that’s bad” but added he’d rather the billionaire “criticize me than the bill.”
- Trump argued Musk was upset because “we took the EV mandate,” in reference to the electric vehicle tax credit the legislation would cut.
What he’s saying: “I’m very disappointed in Elon,” Trump said. “I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
- He said Musk knew the “inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here.”
- Trump added he thinks Musk “misses the place.”
- “People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile,” Trump said.
Friction point: While Trump was talking, Musk was posting on X.
- “Whatever,” he replied in a post that included a clip of Trump’s Oval Office comments. “Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.”
- “Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill,” Musk added.
- In a separate post in response to Trump’s claim that Musk was very familiar with the bill’s details, the SpaceX CEO wrote, “False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!”
Context: The former DOGE head departed the Trump administration in May and has since bashed the “one big, beautiful bill” as a “disgusting abomination.”
- Since then, Musk has urged his followers on X to call their representatives to “KILL the BILL.”
- Some House Republicans have privately revealed their frustration with Musk, including criticism of his competence in the White House.
Zoom in: As of Tuesday, Musk and Trump remained friends and allies, Axios’ Marc Caputo reported, but the president was bothered by his former adviser’s social media rampage.
Go Deeper:
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from Elon Musk.
From axios.com