President Trump hinted Tuesday that he would deport his former ally Elon Musk and deploy the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to scrutinize government subsidies awarded to Musk’s companies — escalating their long-simmering feud.
“We’ll have to take a look,” Trump, 79, told reporters when asked about the deportation possibility on the White House lawn. Born in South Africa, Musk has been a U.S. citizen since 2002, which means he would need to be convicted of a crime before deportation could even be considered, the New York Post noted.
“We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies,” he added.
Trump lashed out at Musk, the inspiration behind DOGE, after the Tesla CEO renewed his criticisms of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—central to much of Trump’s domestic policy agenda—labeling it “utterly insane” and “political suicide.” The House passed the bill on Thursday, sending it to Trump’s desk.
“Elon may get more subsidies than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump posted on Truth Social earlier Tuesday. “No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
The president’s anger followed Musk’s public expression of frustration over the sweeping spending bill on social media just before Tuesday’s Senate vote. “The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” the 54-year-old wrote on X Saturday. “Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”
On Monday, the world’s richest man continued his criticism, stating that lawmakers who had campaigned on cutting spending but supported the bill “should hang their heads in shame!” He added: “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
