Surprisingly critical words from X-Boss Elon Musk against US President Donald Trump:

The Tesla billionaire also thinks little of the controversial budget bill that was passed by a narrow majority in the House of Representatives last week with strong support from Donald Trump. Is there a crisis in the friendship between Trump and Musk?

In an interview excerpt published on Tuesday, Musk said he was “disappointed” by the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” – a comprehensive legislative package that contains key elements of Trump’s domestic policy agenda.

“Frankly, I was disappointed with this massive spending package,” Musk said in an interview with US broadcaster CBS, which is scheduled to be broadcast in full on Sunday. “Not only does it increase the deficit instead of reducing it, it also undermines the work my team is doing through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).”

Musk criticizes rising debt

With DOGE, an initiative he launched to increase efficiency in the US administration, Musk had originally announced savings of two trillion US dollars. According to his own statements, eleven federal agencies have since been dissolved or significantly downsized, and around 250,000 government employees have left their posts. This has saved the state around 160 billion dollars.

Despite these cuts, the federal government’s overall budget has continued to rise, according to figures from the Penn Wharton Budget Model, which analyzes weekly financial data from the US Department of the Treasury. Musk’s criticism is therefore directed primarily at the contradiction between the announced budget discipline and actual spending policy.

Referring to the title of the legislative package, Musk said sarcastically: “A law can be either big or beautiful – but both at the same time? I have my doubts.”

Will this influence the further course of the legislation?

The statements made by the entrepreneur, who is considered politically influential and has repeatedly supported Trump in the past, could influence further negotiations in the Senate – where the bill now faces an uphill battle. There is growing criticism of individual aspects of the bill, particularly among Republican senators.

Senator Ron Johnson (Republican, Wisconsin), a close Trump confidant, is calling for deeper cuts to reduce the budget deficit. Other members of the GOP, on the other hand, reject the drastic cuts to Medicaid and the planned withdrawal of tax breaks from the Inflation Reduction Act.

The legislative package, which covers key issues such as tax cuts, immigration policy, and structural reforms, symbolizes the difficult balancing act between populist rhetoric and fiscal reality. With Musk’s public criticism, the bill is now also losing support in business circles, which have been reliable supporters of Trump’s political agenda to date.

Image: APA