Trump floats siccing DOGE on Elon Musk, says he should go back to South Africa

President Donald Trump went after Elon Musk on Monday night in a long post on Truth Social, slamming the Tesla CEO for cashing in on government subsidies while pretending to oppose public spending. Trump wrote:

“Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign.”

He then said electric cars might be fine, but people shouldn’t be forced to buy them, and he called out Elon for benefiting from what he said are record-breaking government handouts.

Trump also suggested that if the money stopped, Elon would have to shut everything down—rockets, satellites, electric vehicles—and head back to South Africa. He ended the rant by throwing in a jab at DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, saying, “Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? Big money to be saved!”

That hit hard because DOGE was Elon’s own idea, created with the goal of cutting $1 trillion in wasteful government spending. Now Trump wants to use it to investigate the very man who launched it. Meanwhile, the Tesla stock has plunged by 5.8% in premarket trading as reaction to the two men having a public spat yet again.

Elon threatens Republicans supporting Trump’s debt bill

A few hours before Trump’s post, Elon took to X to post a threat to every Republican in Congress who supports Trump’s latest tax and spending bill. He wrote:

“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”

That message was posted just as the Senate was getting ready to vote on Trump’s proposed legislation. The bill is 940 pages long and includes a $5 trillion increase to the debt ceiling while slashing federal aid programs.

The vote is part of a procedural process known as vote-a-rama, a chaotic session where lawmakers race through dozens of amendments. The session started on Monday morning and kept going for over 18 hours into Tuesday without a final vote.

$3.3 trillion price tag deepens GOP split

The Congressional Budget Office released its estimate on Sunday, placing the cost of the Senate version of Trump’s bill at $3.3 trillion. That’s $800 billion more than the House version passed last month. It would bring the total US national debt up from $36.2 trillion.

Some Republicans say the CBO numbers are inflated and that continuing current policy shouldn’t count as new spending, but that hasn’t calmed the markets. Global bondholders are already pulling back from US Treasuries, sensing instability.

Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Senate the bill would “steal people’s healthcare, jack up their electricity bill to pay for tax breaks for billionaires.” John Thune fired back by defending the tax cuts as help for families and small businesses, and he said Medicaid spending was growing too fast, claiming the bill included reforms to make it more sustainable.

Elon wasn’t done. In a separate post, he said, “America is going bankrupt extremely quickly, but everyone seems to be whistling past the graveyard.” He said the Defense Department’s budget is already over $1 trillion a year, and now interest payments on the national debt are also past $1 trillion, and rising. “We have to reduce the spending,” he wrote. He also said the debt ceiling is the only tool left that can actually force the government to cut fraud and waste, adding, “That’s why the debt ceiling legislation exists!”

The Senate already voted 51-49 to open debate on the bill late Saturday. The proposal covers tax cuts, border security, immigration, and increased military funding. Trump wants the whole thing signed and sealed before the July 4 holiday, according to his staff. And if Elon keeps pushing, it looks like the White House may push back even harder.

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