Elon Musk Returns to Rebellion Mode Against Trump

After lying low for a while, Elon Musk once again burst forth into the political stratosphere to rail against the party that he contributed to bringing to power in the last presidential election. The trigger: a bill that would increase the US debt by trillions of dollars. It is being helmed by President Donald Trump, who calls it the Big Beautiful Bill, which among other things would extend tax breaks, spend more on defence and on curbing illegal immigration. Musk thinks that it will lead the country to disaster because the annual interest payments would eventually become impossible to service.

Rebellion can have different forms but when the world’s richest man with its loudest political megaphone as owner of the social media platform X chooses to do so, it can have real impact. The Bill passed the US Senate but before that Musk warned that he would make it his personal mission to defeat those who supported it in the next election. 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.’

He also planned to float a new political party because the two main ones in US–Democrats and Republicans–were united in spending as much of non-existent money as possible. He wrote, ‘If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.’

Trump attributes the rebellion to the removal of subsidies on electric vehicles which benefits Musk’s company Tesla. The two had been inseparable for a brief while after Trump won but he is in no mood to humour Musk now. Speaking to reporters, he said that Musk might end up losing a lot more than just EV subsidies. He also threatened to set the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk headed to cut government costs, after him.

With battle lines again drawn between the two, fireworks are expected to continue for some time.

Donald TrumpElon MuskPolitical partyUS politicsWeb Exclusive