US President Donald Trump has suggested that Doge, a cost-cutting agency created by Elon Musk, could be used to harm Musk’s companies. This comes as the two former allies continue to publicly dispute over Trump’s budget plans.
On social media, Trump wrote, “Elon may receive more subsidies than any human in history. Maybe we should have Doge take a look at this? There is a lot of money to be saved!”
In response, Musk wrote, “I am saying CUT IT ALL. Now.”
This is not the first time Musk has criticized Trump’s budget plans. He believes that they undermine the work he did to reduce government spending.
The feud between Trump and Musk began last month, with both of them publicly exchanging insults. Musk later apologized for some of his comments.
The US Congress is currently voting on Trump’s budget plan. His Republican Party has a majority in both houses, but some party members have voted against it, joining the opposition Democrats.
The proposed budget includes increased spending on border security, defense, and energy production, but it also includes controversial cuts to healthcare and food assistance programs.
Trump’s budget plan and his relationship with Musk have been in the spotlight recently.
Musk was in charge of Doge, which was responsible for finding ways to reduce government spending, until he left the White House due to disagreements over the budget plan.
Trump believes that Musk’s dissent is related to a part of the budget that would remove incentives for people to buy electric vehicles, such as those produced by Musk.
The president has also threatened to remove government subsidies that benefit Musk’s companies.
Trump told reporters, “Doge is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. He receives a lot of subsidies.”
However, Musk argues that he is committed to reducing government spending. If Trump’s budget plan is passed, it could add $3.3 trillion to the national debt.
During the voting process, Musk shared several posts on his social media platform, X. In one, he shared a graph showing the US debt over time with the caption, “When will they flatten this curve?”
In another post, he wrote, “Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then voted for the biggest increase in debt in history should be ashamed!”
Musk also stated that he would make sure these lawmakers lose their primary races next year. He has even suggested the idea of creating a new political party to run against both Republicans and Democrats.
In response to Trump’s claim about electric vehicle incentives, Musk shared a clip from an interview where he said that removing these incentives would improve Tesla’s competitive position.