Elon Musk, the tech mogul, says US President Donald Trump would have lost the 2024 election without him.
Musk made the comment on X in response to Trump’s criticism
against him.
Musk, who led the department of government efficiency
(DOGE), quit his role a day after he spoke out against a Trump-backed spending
bill. The president called it a “Big Beautiful Bill”.
The controversial bill is a centrepiece of Trump’s
second-term domestic agenda, combining major tax cuts, stricter immigration
enforcement, welfare programme overhauls, and significant increases in border
security funding.
The legislation sparked intense debate across the country
and in Congress and was only passed after a nail-biting 215-214 vote.
The plan revived the US-Mexico border wall with a $46.5
billion budget, $350 billion for deportation efforts and border security, and a
hiring spree of 10,000 new ICE agents, 5,000 customs officers, and 3,000 border
patrol agents.
For the first time, migrants will be charged a $1,000 fee to
apply for asylum.
The bill also authorises a $4 trillion increase to the
national debt ceiling, while the estate tax exemption jumped to $15 million,
benefiting wealthier Americans.
Critics including Musk called the bill fiscally
irresponsible and “a disgusting abomination” due to its combination of large
tax cuts and spending increases.
Musk had clamoured for DOGE’s creation to save taxpayers $2
trillion.
Only $160 billion has been saved so far.
TRUMP: I’M VERY
DISAPPOINTED WITH ELON
Since Musk’s exit from the White House last week, his
criticism of the bill has grown louder.
Speaking on the issue, Trump said he was “very disappointed
with Elon”.
The US president said the Tesla CEO was satisfied with the
bill but only grew discontent after he found out electric vehicles would be
impacted.
“I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings
of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here. He knew everything about
it, and all of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed a problem when
he found out I was going to cut the EV mandate because that’s billions and
billions of dollars,” the president said.
“And it really is unfair; we want to have cars of all types.
“He said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn’t
said anything bad about me personally, but I’m sure that will be next. But I’m
really disappointed with Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
Trump praised Musk for his work at DOGE but blamed his
tantrums on missing the office.
“Elon worked hard at DOGE, and I think he misses the place.
I think he got out there, and all of a sudden, he’s no longer in this beautiful
Oval Office,” he said.
“He’s not the first. 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. I don’t know what it is,
some sort of Trump derangement syndrome.”
The president also said he would have won Pennsylvania, a key
state, without Musk’s help
In reaction, the billionaire businessman countered Trump.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would
control the House, and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk
tweeted.
“Such ingratitude.”
The exchange marks yet another dent in the tumultuous
relationship between the two-time American president and the world’s richest
man.
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