KILL the BILL: Elon Musk ramps up attacks on Trump tax and spending bill

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 5, 2025 03:35 IST

Elon Musk unleashed a relentless stream of posts on Wednesday, slamming President Donald Trump’s "big beautiful bill." He urged his followers to lobby their lawmakers and "Kill the Bill." He also warned that it could hasten the nation's slide toward financial ruin.

"Call your Senator, Call your Congressman," Musk wrote on his social platform X. "Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL." The post was one of several sharp criticisms levelled at the legislation, which Musk claims balloons the deficit and betrays fiscal sanity.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who recently left his role as head of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency, has turned his influence -- and 200 million-plus followers -- toward lobbying Congress to reject what he calls reckless federal spending.

"Mammoth spending bills are bankrupting America! ENOUGH," Musk wrote, continuing his attack on what he says is unchecked fiscal excess.

"A new spending bill should be drafted that doesn’t massively grow the deficit and increase the debt ceiling by 5 TRILLION DOLLARS," the Tesla
CEO said in another post.

"A new spending bill should be drafted that doesn't massively grow the deficit," Musk, the largest Republican donor in the 2024 election cycle, said on another post. "America is in the fast lane to debt slavery."

Top congressional Republicans rejected his criticism and one White House official on Wednesday called the Tesla CEO's moves "infuriating."

Some Senate Republicans downplayed Musk's influence.

"I don't think very many senators are that interested in what Elon has to say. It's amusing. But we're serious policymakers. We have to govern, and so we have to deal with reality," Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told reporters.

On Tuesday, Musk blasted Trump's "big, beautiful bill" of tax breaks and spending cuts as a "disgusting abomination."

"I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore," Musk posted on X. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it." The legislation, which has passed the House and is currently under debate in the Senate, would curtail subsidies that benefit Tesla, Musk's electric automaker.

The tech billionaire followed his criticism with a threat aimed at Republicans.

"In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people," he wrote in another X post.

EV, DEFENCE CUTS COULD HIT MUSK HARD

Musk's business interests stand to take a hit if lawmakers approve Trump's bill, which would slash funding for electric vehicles and related technologies. Musk is the chief executive of Tesla, the nation's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, and SpaceX, which has massive defence contracts.

Last month, Musk said he was "disappointed" by the spending bill, a much milder criticism than the broadside he levelled Tuesday.

However, on Wednesday afternoon, Trump’s account on his own social media site, Truth Social, reposted a screenshot of Musk thanking the president for letting him lead DOGE.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, in response, said Musk was "flat wrong" about the bill’s impact on the deficit and revealed he tried calling Musk on Tuesday night to no avail. Musk replied with a video clip of Johnson’s comments and doubled down: "We need a new bill that doesn’t grow the deficit."

His final jab may have hit hardest: "No one who actually reads the bill should be able to stomach it."

Musk’s opposition to the bill comes just days after Trump publicly praised him during a ceremonial Oval Office farewell — a moment now overshadowed by Musk’s dramatic public rejection of the president’s fiscal legacy.

With inputs from AP, Reuters

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