Elon Musk is upping his public relations battle against President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” by turning the president’s own words against him and accusing him of telling lies.
Mr. Trump shot back that he was “very disappointed in Elon” and that “I have helped Elon a lot.”
“He knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it,” he told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office. “All of a sudden he had a problem and he only developed the problem when he found out we’re going to cut EV mandate.”
Mr. Musk, the owner of the electric vehicle company Tesla, spent the last few days trashing the bill’s impact on national deficits and debt. On Thursday, he ratcheted up the criticism by highlighting how Mr. Trump previously chastised Congress for raising the nation’s borrowing limit and declared that lawmakers should be booted from their seats if they do not pass a balanced budget.
Mr. Musk also called Mr. Trump a liar for telling reporters that Mr. Musk knew what’s in the bill “better than anybody” and didn’t have a problem until he discovered it ended the tax credits for electric vehicles.
“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!” Mr. Musk said on X, the social media platform he owns.
Mr. Musk, who is also the richest person in the world, has become a thorn in the side of Mr. Trump and Congress’ Republican leaders since leaving his high-profile post leading the Department of Government Efficiency.
Responding directly to Mr. Trump’s criticism, Mr. Musk said,” Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”
Mr. Musk spent $277 million on Mr. Trump’s campaign and other Republicans in the 2024 election.
On Thursday, Mr. Musk dove into the social media archives, resharing a post from 2013 in which Mr. Trump said, “I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling — I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!”
Mr. Musk said those were “wise words.”
He reposed this social media quip from Mr. Trump: “No member of Congress should be eligible for re-election if our country’s budget is not balanced — deficits not allowed!”
“I couldn’t agree more!” Mr. Musk said.
Mr. Musk is proving to be a fly in the ointment for Mr. Trump’s signature economic proposal, which would extend Mr. Trump’s first-term tax cuts but also add $2.4 trillion to deficits over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Supporters argue that defeating the bill and allowing the tax cuts to expire would result in one of the most significant income-tax increases in modern history.
It would also cancel popular new tax cuts such as eliminating income tax on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits for retirees.
Mr. Musk latched onto concerns over the nation’s $36 trillion national debt, which increased by more than $8 trillion under President Biden and nearly that much during Mr. Trump’s first term in office.
The complaints provide some cover for congressional Republicans, whom Mr. Trump is pressuring to fall in line behind his tax and spending cuts plan.
