Trump threatens to turn DOGE on Musk as he warns billionaire will have to ‘close up shop and head back to South Africa’

Donald Trump has threatened to turn the Department of Government Efficiency on his former ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk.

The president suggested he may use the department Musk once headed to strip away the billionaire’s government subsidies to decimate his business empire, as their feud hit galactic new heights.

Trump issued the threat in response to Musk’s public protest over the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ in which he pledged to launch his own political party if the bill succeeds. 

‘Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social early Tuesday.

‘It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one.’

He then turned the screws on Musk, suggesting his time benefitting from the U.S. government could be over and that the South African native could be forced to return to his homeland.

‘Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and 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? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!’

Long-time Trump ally Steve Bannon also ripped Musk for criticizing the president’s signature legislation. 

Donald Trump said Elon Musk may get a dose of his own medicine, suggesting that the former ‘First Buddy’ may have the Department of Government Efficiency turned on himself

The president was responding to Musk’s day-long protest over the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ which Musk is using to stoke fears of launching a third party to take on Republicans and Democrats

Musk has not directly responded to Trump, but has continued to rail against what he sees as the bill’s potential to ‘bankrupt America’ after the president’s post. 

The world’s richest man has argued that the legislation would greatly increase the national debt and erase the savings he says he has achieved through DOGE.

His criticism of the bill has caused a rift with Trump, marking a dramatic shift after the tech billionaire spent nearly $300 million on the presidents re-election campaign and led DOGE as a federal cost-cutting initiative.

It remains unclear how much sway Musk has over Congress or what effect his opinions might have on the bill’s passage. 

After weeks of relative silence following a feud with Trump over the bill, Musk rejoined the debate on Saturday as the Senate took up the package, calling it ‘utterly insane and destructive’ in a post on social media platform X.

On Monday, he ramped up his criticism, saying lawmakers who had campaigned on cutting spending but backed the bill, ‘should hang their heads in shame!’ 

‘And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,’ Musk said.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO called again for a new political party, saying the bill’s massive spending indicated, ‘that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!’

‘Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,’ he wrote.

Trump (pictured left) turned the screws on Musk (pictured right), suggesting his time benefitting from the U.S. government could be over

‘If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,’ Musk pledged. 

‘Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a Voice,’ he added. 

He lasted posted a photo of Pinocchio being set on fire, saying it was the poster every member of Congress would see with their name on it if they voted for the bill.

‘Anyone who campaigned on the PROMISE of REDUCING SPENDING, but continues to vote on the BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY will see their face on this poster in the primary next year.’ 

A few hours before his new pledge to primary Republicans, Musk called out their refusal to pass legislation that he sees as sufficiently conservative via a post on X Monday afternoon, as senators voted on various amendments to Trump’s budget package.

A full Senate vote on the budget bill is expected ahead of President Trump’s deadline of July 4th. 

The Senate version of Trump’s bill is estimated to add between 3.3 billion and 4.5 billion to the national debt. 

Musk also called out several House Republicans who are a part of the conservative ‘Freedom Caucus,’ for their votes to pass the House version of the bill.

‘How can you call yourself the Freedom Caucus if you vote for a Debt Slavery bill with the biggest debt ceiling increase in history? @RepAndyHarrisMD @chiproytx,’ Musk wrote, addressing the two GOP lawmakers directly. 

Musk then escalated his attacks further, pledging to oust Republicans from Congress who vote for the bill.

He chided GOP lawmakers who ‘campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history.’

Musk, now worth over $400 billion, founded the AmericaPAC super pac in 2024. 

AmericaPAC raised over $260 million last year, and spent it in support of Republicans, many of whom ran in swing districts. Over $88 million went to directly supporting Trump.

Musk was rewarded handsomely for his efforts, and spent nearly four months in Trump’s White House as a ‘special government employee’ leading the Department of Government efficiency (DOGE). 

In that role, he pinpointed many areas where the federal government could make budget cuts, but in Musk’s eyes much of that work will be for nothing if the government doesn’t curb its record high spending levels. 

Some libertarian-minded Republicans have previously taken Musk’s side in the GOP budget fight.

New additions to the the national debt have been a non-starter for the likes of Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, who notes that he does want to see the 2017 tax cuts made permanent. 

Musk has not directly responded to Trump’s post but has continued to rail against the bill

Paul also described the current $5 trillion in new debt that the budget bill would add as ‘Biden spending levels.’

‘This will be the largest increase in the debt ceiling ever in our history. We’ve never raised the debt ceiling without meeting the target. You can say it doesn’t directly add to the debt but if you reach the ceiling you’ll meet that. We won’t discuss it for a year or two. I think it is a terrible idea to do this’ Paul told Fox News earlier in June. 

Paul has also contrasted the pending package with the funds anticipated to be saved by spending cuts pushed for by DOGE. 

‘That’s more than all the DOGE cuts that we found so far. So, the increase in spending put into this bill exceeds the DOGE cuts. When you look just at the border wall, they have $46.5 billion for the border wall,’ Paul said on Face the Nation earlier this month. 

Utah GOP Senator Mike Lee is another Senate Republican who hasn’t fully supported President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ of a spending package which is currently being voted on in the U.S. Senate after being passed by the House of Representatives back in May.

Lee and Musk previously joined forces to describe the bill as ‘debt slavery’ in a back and forth exchange on X.

Republicans have expressed concern that Musk’s on-again, off-again feud with Trump could hurt their chances to protect their majority in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

The rift has also led to volatility for Tesla, with shares of the company seeing wild price swings that erased approximately $150 billion of its market value, though it has since recovered.