“A disgusting abomination.”
So declared industrial multi-hyphenate Elon Musk in a rather startling post, which further underscored his growing ideological divide with President Donald Trump.
Quite a few things have been topsy-turvy in recent months, in particular the media firestorm surrounding the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an impromptu agency of sorts commenced by Musk.
And one of the most significant developments includes an ideological divide that has escalated in the wake of Trump’s surprising promotion of a bill that will amplify national debt by trillions.
Musk, quite clearly, is not a fan of such an approach, especially as it blatantly undercuts the efforts made by his DOGE team.
“I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit… and it undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk remarked.
The surprising commentary by Musk is certainly one of the more surprising developments in recent months, especially since the media has already taken great pleasure in pitting Trump and Musk against one another.
That said, considering that Trump ostensibly recruited Musk to help reduce government waste in the first place, one would naturally expect for Musk to expect Trump to follow suit.
Thus, it’s not surprising that Musk is quite upset over the many ways in which Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” runs completely contrary to the previously agreed upon approach to government financial management – becoming far more conservative, not less so, with government spending.
And that was one of the primary outcomes of DOGE.
Best known for his leadership at Tesla, SpaceX, X, and other industrial ventures, Musk garnered worldwide outrage – which the media declared was well-“earned” – for taking temporary charge at DOGE.
In this role, Musk purportedly helped reduce waste in the government to save taxpayers money, and – most importantly – reduce the ever-unsustainable debt load eagerly pursued by both parties in the federal government, decade in and decade out.
However, the same economic policies used decade after decade are no longer feasible in the 2020s, which meant that difficult decisions had to be made.
And those decisions included taking aim straight at the heart of government waste.
For the first several weeks of his presidency, President Donald Trump applauded Musk’s efforts, issuing several declarations of support for DOGE, making it clear that he was handing Musk even more authority in the wake of his successes.
Especially significant blowback emerged when Musk set his sights on the Pentagon, quite possibly the least financially accountable – yet most expensive – government endeavors of all.
The power endowed to Musk by Trump only became more controversial at time progressed.
Multiple joint meetings with Trump and Musk in front of the global press occurred simultaneously, sending especially liberal types – who formerly loved Musk for his electric cars (EVs) – into a frenzy.
So much of a frenzy, in fact, that more than one of them violently attacked Tesla dealerships with Molotov cocktails – you know, the liberals’ idea of a “peaceful protest.”
Musk was also hammered in the financial markets, with Tesla shares dropping precipitously relative to overall market indices as the media firestorm surrounding Musk and his DOGE team further amplified and Tesla sales plummeted.
Even Trump admitted that Musk may well be harming his own interests by focusing on DOGE rather than his companies.
“He’s not gaining anything. In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it,” Trump mused.
Without a doubt.
However, Musk may well have convinced himself that the setbacks to his gargantuan corporations were temporary, as well as worth it in the pursuit of saving the nation’s financial future.
Except whatever billions were saved by Musk have now been more than offset by the multiple trillions that the “big, beautiful bill” is set to incur for the nation, thereby rendering the national debt more unsustainable than ever.
Which is why Musk has become even more aggressive about the bill since leaving the White House.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” Musk ragedon X.
Now that is certainly an elevated form of criticism relative to just mere days ago … though it’s also clearly indicative of Musk’s immense frustration.
And Musk is hardly the only detractor – some of the more hardcore MAGA loyalists in Congress have also expressed growing doubts over the bill.
Including Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“I was just told that we are going to see the first DOGE cuts bill on Monday. Foreign aid and NPR/CPB on the chopping block. I have not seen the bill yet, but I’m just passing on what they told me. Personally I want to pass DOGE cuts every single week until the bloated out of control government is reigned back in. As a country, we cannot survive our national debt and honestly, we may be past the point of return. We should be aggressively attacking our debt and aggressively, cutting all waste fraud, and abuse and unnecessary programs. Our future literally is in peril,” Greene asserted.
So, from Musk to Greene, significant opposition has grown to the “big, beautiful” spending package promulgated by Trump.
Will that opposition result in substantial changes to the bill – in particular the changes that won’t result in additional trillions being added to the national debt?
If Trump’s parting remarks about the conclusion of Musk’s formal role are any indication, changes may well occur, once the media furor dies down.
“This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way … Elon is terrific!” Trump brayed.
Is Elon “terrific” enough to inspire Trump to tamp down on spending?
Time remains to tell, but one can only hope that the conservatives truly do work towards a future that saves the United States.
Author: Ofelia Thornton
