Former President Donald Trump has renewed his war of words with entrepreneur Elon Musk. He proposes leveraging the Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge for short, to sabotage Musk’s companies. This comment comes after a string of very public flaps between the two, mostly over the specifics of Trump’s anticipated budget blueprint.
Doge, formed with Musk’s encouragement, was supposed to figure out ways that the government could spend less. Until his own exit from the White House, Musk was a driving force within the agency. After departing his position, he became one of the most vocal critics of Trump’s replacement bill. On net, it’s projected to raise the national debt by about $3.3 trillion (£2.4 trillion).
That’s because Trump has repeatedly threatened to end government subsidies—which are essential to the success of Musk’s companies, and especially Tesla and SpaceX. During a recent statement, he remarked, “Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far.” This remark highlights Trump’s agreement with the idea that Musk is already receiving too much government cash.
In response to the ongoing debate over the budget plan, Trump proposed that Doge should take a closer look at potential savings. He stated, “Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
Musk has been quite clear on his plans to eliminate government spending altogether. As he recently tweeted, “I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Right Now,” expressing his ideological zeal for fiscal responsibility. Musk has been vocal in opposition to Trump’s budget blueprint—what Trump has called his “big, beautiful bill.” In a bid to illustrate his concerns regarding national debt, Musk shared a graph depicting the upward trend of U.S. debt over time with the caption: “When are they going to flatten this curve?”
The tensions between Trump and Musk seem to have political motivations, too. But earlier this year, Musk had been making noises about starting an entirely new party. He’s running to defeat both the Republican and Democratic national parties. But most important, he really wanted to change the dynamic in the presidential primary races. He announced that he would try to defeat some of these same legislators in their re-election campaigns.
This continued battle between HUD Secretary Carson and Education Secretary DeVos raises new questions. It calls into question the long-term trajectory of federal spending and remakes the political coalition undergirding American governance. The ongoing conflict underscores their very different approaches to fiscal policy. It speaks to larger questions of corporate subsidies and government efficiency.