President Donald Trump said he is open to deporting Elon Musk and added an additional threat: turning DOGE – the agency Musk founded – against him.
The feud between Trump and the world’s wealthiest person escalated as Trump threatened to have the Department of Government Efficiency ‘eat Elon.’ This latest development followed another social media dispute between the two, culminating in the president’s warning to return Musk to his birthplace in South Africa.
‘I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look,’ the president told Daily Mail on Tuesday when asked about deporting Musk.
‘We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,’ Trump added.
Musk responded on X, writing: ‘So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.’
Former allies, Trump and Musk have witnessed a sharp deterioration in their relationship, primarily triggered by Musk’s vocal criticism of the president’s significant tax cut and spending bill, dubbed the ‘big, beautiful bill.’ Despite being a naturalized American, Musk hails from South Africa.
Musk strongly opposed the bill, particularly highlighting its reduction in electric vehicle subsidies and its impact on the nation’s deficit. His objections arose during the Senate’s extensive debate on the legislation, which surpassed 20 hours. The bill is anticipated to undergo a final vote on Tuesday.
But if it passes, Musk has threatened to immediately form a new political party, in what could potentially imperil the GOP trifecta of power in Washington.
Trump had some words of warning for Musk on the matter.
‘I don’t think he should be playing that game with me,’ he told reporters when he landed in Florida to tour a new migrant detention center.
President Donald Trump didn’t rule out deporting Elon Musk
Trump shrugged off Musk’s criticism and warned the Tesla founder has more to lose than EV subsidies.
‘Elon is not getting his mandate,’ Trump said earlier Tuesday. ‘He’s not going to get his mandate and he better be careful. He might not get anything else.’
Trump also appeared to regret his Tesla purchase, which he made earlier this year, paying cash. He turned the South Lawn into a Tesla showroom in a nod to his relationship with the world’s richest man.
‘Not everybody wants an electric car. I don’t want an electric car,’ Trump said.
At the time, Musk was the head of the Department of Government Efficiency and his auto dealerships became the target of protests due to his sweeping cost-cutting.
Musk was a top contributor to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, spending millions to help the president win a second term.
But their relationship went South after Musk left the government to return to the private sector. They sparred on social media after Musk amped up his criticism of the Big, Beautiful Bill.
As the Senate nears a vote, their feud has only gotten hotter.
Elon Musk has been a vocal opponent of the ‘big, beautiful bill’
It reignited on Monday night as the Senate debated amendment after amendment to the ‘big, beautiful bill’ and Musk took to X to trash it.
Trump made it clear that Musk knew the subsidies for electronic cars was not an option from the start.
And he said Musk may have to go back to his homeland of South Africa.
‘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.
Musk, in response, threatened to start a new political party and target Republicans who ultimately vote for the president’s package.
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump in happier times – in March on the South Lawn
‘If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,’ he wrote on X. ‘Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.’
Musk, the world’s richest man, gave nearly $300 million to Republican candidates last year. Now he may leverage that seismic warchest among the very GOPers he once aided, writing he would work to dislodge GOP incumbents in primaries ‘if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.’
