President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued several warnings to Elon Musk and suggested he would consider deporting the tech mogul, in a widening rift between the former allies over a contentious spending bill that could heap trillions of dollars to America's national debt.
Speaking on the White House lawn before visiting Florida for the opening of a new migrant centre, Mr Trump said he could consider deporting Mr Musk, the South African-born billionaire.
“I don't know, we'll have to take a look,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Trump said he believed Mr Musk's criticism of his so-called Big Beautiful Bill was due to measures that cut subsidies and support for electric vehicles.
“He's losing his EV mandate. He's very upset about things, but you know, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Elon can lose a lot more than that,” he said.
Mr Trump then said the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which Mr Musk led before stepping down in May, may be turned on the companies he runs – Tesla and SpaceX – which receive government subsidies.
“We might have to put Doge on Elon,” Mr Trump said. “Doge is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”
Mr Musk shot back on X: “So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.”
Mr Trump put Mr Musk in charge of Doge and tasked him with cutting government spending.
The billionaire enlisted the help of “tech bros” who put a chainsaw to thousands of government projects and jobs.
Mr Musk, the world's richest man, was Mr Trump's largest donor in the election last year.
Early in the administration, he was constantly at the White House at Mr Trump's side.
But they had a public and acrimonious fallout last month – much of it playing out on social media – over Mr Trump's tax and spending bill.
On Monday, Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social that “without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa”.
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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