Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Washington D.C. – Elon Musk reignited his criticism of President Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy bill on Saturday, breaking a fragile truce with the White House as the Senate prepared for a critical vote on the sweeping Republican-led measure. Calling the 940-page package “utterly insane and destructive,” Musk warned on his platform X that the plan could devastate clean energy jobs and deliver a strategic blow to the nation’s economy.
Senate Republicans had released their revised bill in the early hours of Saturday, seeking to lock down enough votes before Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline. The measure aims to cement Trump-era tax cuts, while slashing Medicaid and food assistance, creating new subsidies for coal, and boosting spending on military and immigration enforcement. Lawmakers also included a $25 billion fund to help rural hospitals dependent on Medicaid, hoping to ease opposition among their own ranks.
Musk’s latest denunciation of the bill was swift and biting. “The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,” he posted on X, hours before the Senate reconvened. He argued the bill punishes renewable energy while “giving handouts to industries of the past.”
Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle and solar energy company, could be directly affected by provisions raising taxes on solar, battery, wind, geothermal, and nuclear projects. The bill would also establish subsidies for coal used in steel production, a move critics say could reverse climate gains.
The billionaire’s remarks reopened a personal feud with Trump that had cooled just weeks ago. Their dispute, which exploded earlier this month, included Musk accusing Trump of ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while Trump labeled Musk’s behavior “crazy” and hinted at drug use.
Before the public falling out, Musk had been one of Trump’s highest-profile supporters, contributing more than $250 million to his re-election campaign and briefly heading the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk later distanced himself from the administration to focus on Tesla and SpaceX, after Tesla’s stock fell 14 percent in one day following his initial criticism of the bill.
Although Musk apologized for “some of the posts” after their spat, his reentry into the debate suggests tensions remain. It is unclear what influence Musk still holds with Senate Republicans, but his renewed attacks on what Trump has described as a “Big Beautiful Bill” inject fresh uncertainty into the already fractious negotiations.
Saturday also marked Musk’s 54th birthday, a date activists with the group Tesla Takedown used to organize protests against his past ties to Trump and support for Germany’s far-right AfD party.
