by Sharon Rondeau
(Jul. 1, 2025) — A high-profile, four-week-old rift between President Donald J. Trump and entrepreneur/multibillionaire Elon Musk resurfaced on Tuesday morning when Trump suggested Musk’s numerous business enterprises would not flourish were it not for substantial subsidies from the U.S. government.
“…without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trum posted on TruthSocial early Tuesday. “No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, looks at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
For approximately four months, Musk served as the point person for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an agency created by Barack Obama repurposed by Trump to target government waste, fraud and abuse.
Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa and initially attended a Canadian university for his undergraduate degree. In 1992 he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a dual degree in Physics and Economics in 1997.
Musk’s departure from his “special government employee” post was formally announced on May 30, with Trump awarding him a “Key to the White House” and praising him
Musk returned to leading his companies, including SpaceX, which in March successfully brought back to Earth four astronauts, two of whom, both Americans, were stranded for nine months at the International Space Station.
His other endeavors are Tesla electric vehicles, which became the target of widespread political violence following Musk’s assumption of his DOGE role; Neuralink, which seeks to restore abilities to those with spinal cord injuries via brain implants; and “X,” formerly Twitter, the social-media platform Musk purchased in October 2022 for approximately $44 billion.
Early in his DOGE assignment, Musk and his team reportedly found $100 billion in wasted taxpayer dollars within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), now led by Dr. Mehmet Oz. Another $1.9 billion, the group said, was discovered misdirected to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
According to Wikipedia, Musk became a U.S. citizen in 2002.
The falling-out with Trump appeared to have been prompted by Musk’s strident disapproval of the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” Trump is urging Congress to pass by Independence Day, a prospect which currently looks dubious as the Senate continues its debate Tuesday morning.
The Senate version of the bill differs on several points from the House version passed May 22. Among other cost-cutting measures, albeit raising the debt ceiling considerably, the legislation proposes eliminating government tax credits for EV purchases and removes the Biden-era mandate aimed at phasing out gas-powered vehicles over the next 5-6 years.
While escalating his argument against massive government spending which he sees as a death knell to the United States, on June 5 Musk urged Trump be impeached and a new political party formed, posting a survey he claimed on Tuesday received 80% support from respondents.
In an interview Friday with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo aired on her program, “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump appeared to have put any hard feelings with Musk behind him, describing him as “a wonderful guy” and saying, “I know he’s going to do well, always; he’s a smart guy.”
Trump said he surmised the (reversing of the) “EV mandate is a tough thing for him.”
“I love his cars; I think he’s fantastic,” Trump told Bartiromo, “but not everybody should have that, and not everybody wants that…”
At 12:44 a.m. Tuesday, Trump’s remarks about Musk were quite different, suggesting Musk’s businesses be probed by the very agency Musk championed just weeks earlier. “Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate,” he wrote on TruthSocial. “It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one. Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
According to Musk Tuesday morning, “All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America.”
“Hitting the debt ceiling is the only thing that will actually force the government to cut waste and fraud,” Musk went on. “That’s why the debt ceiling legislation exists!”
Shortly thereafter, Musk said he would donate to the re-election campaign of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY4), one of two Republicans who voted against the “Big, Beautiful Bill” who Trump wishes to see primaried prior to the 2026 congressional elections.
On Monday evening Musk promised to form a new political party “the next day” “if this insane spending bill passes.”
“Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE,” Musk opined.
Speaking to reporters at 8:18 a.m. EDT while departing the White House for the newly-opening “Alligator Alcatraz” to house illegal aliens in Florida, Trump said that in addition to his government subsidies, “Elon could lose a lot more than that.”
“DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” he replied to a subsequent reporter’s question.