Recently, President Donald Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with Elon Musk, once a close ally, saying he is “disappointed in him”.
Speculation about a rift between the two has circulated for some time, despite their once close relationship following Trump’s ascension to the presidency in January. Musk’s departure from the Trump administration was anticipated.
Musk had been serving in a unique capacity as a ‘special government employee’, a position that permitted him to work up to 130 days each year within the government.
However, he resigned three days earlier than planned, just a day after he voiced criticism of Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’.
During a session with reporters in the Oval Office on June 5, Trump remarked: “Look, you know, I’ve always liked Elon, and it’s always – very surprised. You saw the words he had for me, the words and he hasn’t said anything about me, that’s bad.”
He continued, “I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill, because the bill is incredible. Elon and I had a great relationship, I don’t know if it went well anymore.”
Trump added, “I was surprised because, you were here, everybody in this room practically was here as we had a wonderful send off. He said wonderful things about me couldn’t have nicer. Said the best thing.”
“But I’m very disappointed, because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here,” Trump concluded.
Musk later addressed Trump’s comments on Twitter, stating: “False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!”
This isn’t the first instance in which Musk has openly criticized the bill.
In a preview clip aired on CBS on May 27, Musk commented: “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill frankly, which increases the budget deficit not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing.”
He further stated, “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful… but I don’t know if it could be both, my personal opinion.”
The proposed bill included a rise in defense spending, aligning with Trump’s goal to establish a ‘Golden Dome’ to shield the US from missile threats, in addition to offering multi-trillion dollar tax breaks.
However, as noted by Musk, the new legislation would undermine his position as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), potentially increasing government expenditure by approximately $600 billion in the upcoming fiscal year.