Trump defends 'big, beautiful bill' after Musk accuses him of undermining DOGE
28 May 2025, 23:43 | Updated: 29 May 2025, 09:26
US President Donald Trump has defended his legislation after billionaire Elon Musk said he was 'disappointed to see the massive spending bill'
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Trump avoided attacking Musk when asked about the billionaire's criticism of his 'big, beautiful bill.'
"We will be negotiating that bill, and I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it," Trump told reporters, without addressing Musk's criticism.
"It's very big. The big, beautiful bill, but the beautiful is because of all the things we have. The biggest thing being I would say the level of tax cutting that we'll be doing."
He also emphasized the need to secure support for the bill's passage in the Senate, stating, "we can't be cutting, you know, we need to get a lot of support."
"Remember, we have zero Democrat votes because they are bad people. There is something wrong with them," Trump said.
"We're having a hard time because some judges aren't making it easy for us and it's tough enough."
"And they approved that they allowed that to happen to our country. We don't have one Democrat vote and if I were a Democrat I would be voting for this bill and I would get elected to any position I want as a Democrat. They are crazy," he said.
Read more: Tesla's European sales halve in a month amid backlash against Elon Musk and Trump's trade war
The legislation will add about $3.8 trillion to the federal government's $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
US billionaire Elon Musk lashed out at Donald Trump earlier today for "undermining" him and treating his department DOGE like "whipping boys."
Musk has overseen massive cuts to the federal government in his role as head of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
While he has got a seat at the table in Trump's government, the SpaceX CEO has come down hard on the administration's $3.8 trillion spending bill.
"It undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," he told reporters.
Musk added: "I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it."
It is not the only occasion where Musk has lashed out at the White House over DOGE's treatment.
He told the Washington Post: "DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything.
"Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it."
Musk was referring to the "Trump tax bill" - a series of sweeping cuts to federal spending. The X owner appears to believe it would actually weaken cost-cutting efforts.
Such a rift over the seemingly marks a significant shift in the pair's relationship - which during the presidential campaign saw Musk refer to himself as "Dark Maga" as Trump brought him out at rallies across the US.
It comes after speculation swirled that Musk was gearing up to leave Trump's cabinet.
In April, some reports claimed Trump had told members of his inner circle Elon Musk is set to exit the president's cabinet in the "coming weeks".
It came as wide-ranging reports emerged that those close to Trump have become increasingly frustrated with the Telsa boss in recent months, pointing to his unpredictability.
One senior administration official told Politico that Musk will retain an informal role as an adviser after quitting the cabinet.
Another warned that anyone thinking Musk will give up his position entirely is “fooling themselves.”
But White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, dismissed the reports as "garbage".
"Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete," she said.
Musk backed up her comments, writing "Yeah, fake news" in a post on X.
Trump also later told the Telsa boss "you're invited to stay as long as you want" during a Cabinet meeting celebrating his first 100 days in office.