Trump-Musk Feud Escalates Over Spending Bill: 5 Things to Know

A public war of words erupted over the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

President Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, alongside Musk's son X Æ A-Xii, speak to the press as they stand next to a Tesla vehicle on the South Portico of the White House on March 11, 2025. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

A public feud between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump took a turn for the worse on Thursday, with the tech billionaire claiming that the president wouldn’t have won without him and the president suggesting that Musk’s subsidies could be pulled.

Just moments before, President Trump told reporters in the White House that he was disappointed in Musk’s comments about the One Big Beautiful Bill, which the Tesla CEO has harshly criticized on social media.

Trump Says Musk Subsidies Could be Terminated

Hours after the Oval Office comments, in a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that “the easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”