U.S. President Donald Trump has reignited his public feud with tech billionaire Elon Musk, suggesting that DOGE – the Department of Government Efficiency, a cost-cutting agency Musk once helped establish – could investigate the billions in government subsidies allegedly benefiting Musk’s companies.

 

“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far,” Trump posted on social media. “Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”

 

 

 

Musk swiftly fired back on his platform X (formerly Twitter), writing:

 

“I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now.”

 

 

 

The tension comes amid congressional votes on Trump’s controversial budget proposal, dubbed the “big, beautiful bill”, which includes increased funding for border security, defense, and energy, but deep cuts to healthcare and food assistance programs.

 

Though Republicans control both chambers of Congress, some GOP lawmakers have broken ranks, joining Democrats to oppose the bill’s growing national debt impact, estimated at $3.3 trillion.

 

Subsidy Cuts and Political Fallout

 

Trump has implied Musk’s opposition stems from the bill’s move to eliminate federal incentives for electric vehicles (EVs),a sector central to Musk’s businesses like Tesla.

 

“He’s upset that he’s losing his EV mandate,” Trump told reporters. “He could lose a lot more than that.”

 

 

 

He added ominously:

 

“DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”

 

 

 

Musk, who resigned from DOGE after clashing with Trump over the spending bill, maintains that his opposition is ideological, not personal. He has repeatedly called for sweeping cuts to federal spending, sharing a graph of rising U.S. debt with the caption:

 

“When are they going to flatten this curve?”

 

 

 

In another post, Musk lambasted lawmakers who voted for the bill after campaigning on austerity:

 

“Every member of Congress… should hang their head in shame!”

 

 

 

He even vowed to fund primary challengers against those he considers fiscally irresponsible and hinted at founding a new political party to challenge both Republicans and Democrats.

 

In response to Trump’s EV claim, Musk reposted an interview clip in which he stated that removing EV subsidies would actually benefit Tesla’s competitiveness.