Musk tests his political clout now he’s no longer Trump’s ‘first buddy’

Washington: Elon Musk had been out of the White House for less than 100 hours when he unleashed a tirade against US President Donald Trump’s signature piece of legislation and top domestic priority.

Trump’s so-called big, beautiful bill was not just bad, in Musk’s view. It was a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill” and a “disgusting abomination”. It would increase the “already gigantic” budget deficit to $US2.5 trillion ($3.9 trillion), and “burden America [sic] citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt”.

US President Donald Trump with Elon Musk outside the White House in March.Credit: AP

Those members of the House of Representatives who voted for the bill knew they were wrong, Musk said. Not content to leave it there, he added: “In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.”

So far, that list comprises 215 Republicans and zero Democrats.

This is the same Musk who threw nearly $US300 million behind Trump and GOP candidates in last year’s presidential and congressional elections, and another $US20 million into a judicial race in Wisconsin this year.

And it’s the same Musk who on Friday received a golden key to the White House from Trump in a back-patting session that marked his formal exit from the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

To be fair, Musk did not wait until he was out the door to make his feelings known. He condemned the “big, beautiful bill” publicly last week, and was also critical of Trump’s tariffs.

But today’s tirade was striking not only for its intensity but its timing – right in the middle of a press briefing by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and as Trump hits the phones to convince Senate Republicans to pass the bill.

Leavitt brushed off Musk’s commentary, saying everyone already knows how he feels about the bill. And that’s true. But he now appears to be embarking on a campaign whose intent is to halt, or seriously hamper, the bill’s path through the Senate. And that means he is trying to derail Trump’s No. 1 ticket item.

This will be a test of the world’s richest man’s political clout, which took a reality check in April when the Musk and Republican-backed candidate lost in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

Along with his departure from the White House, Musk’s political pivot also robs Democrats of one of their preferred punching bags, with polls generally showing Americans dislike Trump’s former “first buddy” more than the president himself.

Among Republicans, Rand Paul, a Kentucky senator, is the most prominent internal critic of Trump’s bill so far, saying it will unacceptably increase US debt. On this, he is supported by numerous independent analysts, including the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

The White House denies this, essentially arguing that the 2017 Trump tax cuts – which expire at the end of the year – were always meant to be permanent, and maintaining them at current levels should not be considered a debt increase.

Paul may be the loudest voice, but he is not the only fiscal hawk left in the Republican Party or the US Senate. The bill’s passage is far from guaranteed and the risk for Trump is that Musk’s campaign succeeds in killing or curtailing the legislation, which Republican leaders hope to pass by July 4.

Trump had, at the time of writing, not said a word about Musk’s latest missives. But he was scathing about Paul, saying he “never has any practical or constructive ideas” and claiming the people of Kentucky “can’t stand him”.

Paul and Musk were busy praising and reposting each other on the social media platform X today. Watch out – this could get ugly.

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