‘KILL the BILL’: Musk draws on Tarantino film to accelerate his Trump offensive

Washington: Elon Musk is on a mission to block President Donald Trump’s tax bill after he tried – and failed – to convince Republican lawmakers to preserve valuable tax credits for electric vehicles in the legislation, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Tesla chief executive officer personally appealed to House Speaker Mike Johnson to save the tax credit, the person said, requesting anonymity to discuss a private conversation. The House version of the tax measure calls for largely ending the $US7500 ($11,500) electric car subsidies by the end of 2025.

Elon Musk in the Oval Office last week.Credit: AP

Since losing that battle, Musk ratcheted up his offensive against the president’s signature legislation on Wednesday, urging that Americans contact their lawmakers to “KILL” the legislation, pinning his opposition to the bill’s $US2.4 trillion price tag.

“Call your Senator, Call your Congressman,” Musk wrote in a social media post on Thursday AEST. “Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.”

To drive home the point, he also posted an image from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films.

The posts came a day after Musk lashed out at the tax bill, describing it as a budget-busting “disgusting abomination”, as Republican hawks stepped up criticism of the massive fiscal package.

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NBC News reported earlier on Musk’s overture to Johnson.

Trump hasn’t publicly responded to Musk’s comments, but the White House put out a statement Wednesday, Washington time, saying the “Big Beautiful Bill” legislation “unleashes an era of unprecedented economic growth”.

Tensions between Musk and the White House have flared in recent days after the tech titan formally stepped down from his role leading Trump’s federal cost-cutting effort, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

After a meeting with Trump and Republican senators at the White House on Wednesday evening, Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas told Bloomberg Television that “Elon was not important at all as far as this conversation goes”.

Earlier, Johnson told reporters that Musk was “dead wrong” about the bill and that the tax cuts would pay for themselves through economic growth.

Musk’s public condemnation pits him against the president at a critical time, as Trump is personally lobbying holdouts on the bill. His campaign against the legislation threatens to stiffen resistance and delay enactment of the tax cuts and debt ceiling increase.

Musk has attacked the legislation days after leaving a temporary assignment leading the DOGE initiative to cut federal spending. The Tesla chief executive officer’s high-profile role in the Trump administration eroded his business brand, and sales of his company’s electric vehicles plunged.

The House-passed version of the tax and spending bill would add $US2.4 trillion ($3.7 trillion) to US budget deficits over the next decade, according to a new estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO’s calculation reflects a $US3.67 trillion decrease in expected revenues and a $US1.25 trillion decline in spending over the decade through 2034, relative to baseline projections. The score doesn’t account for any potential boost to the economy from the bill, which Johnson and Trump argue would offset the revenue losses.

Johnson said Musk had promised to help re-elect Republicans just a day before savaging Trump’s bill. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Musk, the world’s richest man with a net worth of about $US377 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has become a crucial financial backer of the Republican party.

After making modest donations most years, Musk became the biggest US political donor in 2024, giving more than $US290 million.

Most of Musk’s political giving was aimed at electing Trump but he also supported congressional candidates. America PAC, the super political action committee that Musk largely funded, spent $US18.5 million in 17 separate House races.

Though that total pales in comparison to the roughly $US255 million he spent backing Trump, the spending means a lot in a congressional election, where challengers on average raise less than $US1 million.

Control of the House will likely be decided by the outcome of fewer than two dozen close races in the 2026 midterm elections. The GOP’s chances of holding their majority would suffer a major blow if Musk were to withdraw his financial support.

Bloomberg

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