WASHINGTON, USA — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, raised the possibility of deporting tech billionaire Elon Musk, escalating a high-profile feud between the two men over the administration’s $4.5 trillion “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Responding to questions from reporters at the White House, Trump said Musk, a South African-born American citizen and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), could face scrutiny over his extensive government contracts and subsidies.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look,” Trump said when asked whether he would consider deporting Musk.
“We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”
The president went further, suggesting that Musk’s opposition to the spending bill was motivated by the removal of provisions supporting electric vehicles.
“He’s losing his EV mandate. He’s very upset about things,” Trump said. “But you know, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Elon can lose a lot more than that.”
Trump had earlier criticised Musk on his Truth Social platform, claiming that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO owed much of his success to government assistance.
“Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump posted on Monday.
The dramatic shift in tone follows Musk’s vocal condemnation of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which cleared a major Senate hurdle over the weekend.
Musk has argued that the legislation would raise the national debt by $4.5 trillion and betray America’s clean energy future.
“What’s the point of a debt ceiling if we keep raising it?” Musk wrote on social media. “All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America.”
Once one of Trump’s top political allies, Musk contributed heavily to the president’s 2024 campaign and initially served in his administration before stepping down from DOGE in May.
The pair have since clashed publicly, with Musk accusing Republicans of abandoning their promises to support innovation and fiscal responsibility.
In a recent string of posts, Musk also revived his calls for a new political party — the “America Party” — if the bill is enacted, a move seen as a potential disruption to the two-party dominance in U.S. politics.
