Former President Donald Trump took aim at Elon Musk in a late-night Truth Social post, threatening to have the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) scrutinize federal support for Musk’s various business ventures, suggesting there’s “big money to be saved.”
“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far,” Trump wrote. “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?” he added, referencing the department established to root out waste in government spending.
Neither Musk nor his America PAC responded immediately to requests for comment. In the hours following Trump’s post, Musk reposted several debt-related graphics on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting the $36 trillion national debt.
This is the latest flare-up in the deteriorating relationship between Trump and Musk, who once collaborated closely on budget-cutting initiatives. Musk previously held a role as a special government employee at DOGE before resigning in May. At one point, Musk had reportedly spent at least $250 million to help elect Trump.
On Tuesday morning, Trump said Musk was “very upset” because “he’s losing his EV mandate.”
“But you know, he could lose a lot more than that,” Trump added. “Elon can lose a lot more than that.”
“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” Trump continued. “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible?”
There is no federal electric vehicle mandate, though Trump recently blocked California’s attempt to enforce one. NBC News previously reported that Musk had lobbied to preserve EV tax credits, which a pending Senate bill would now roll back for clean-energy vehicles.
In response, Musk posted on X: “So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.”
Later that day, Musk criticized Trump more directly, citing a prior version of the Republican-backed bill that would have made it harder for judges to block federal actions — a move Musk argued could “enable abuses of power.” That clause was ultimately removed from the current version of the bill.