Elon Musk Responds to Trump’s ‘Back Home to South Africa’ Comments – Newsweek
Published
Jul 02, 2025 at 02:16 AM EDT
updated
Jul 02, 2025 at 04:44 AM EDT
Elon Musk has called President Donald Trump‘s comments about him “so disappointing.”
The Musk-Trump feud reignited over the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed the Senate on Tuesday. The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who sees the legislation as an unacceptable multitrillion-dollar expansion of the federal debt, has touted forming a new “America Party.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump took aim at Musk for the subsidies his companies have received, particularly for electric vehicles. The president said that without them, “Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.”
When asked by a reporter whether he would consider deporting Musk, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2002, Trump said: “I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look.”
Responding to Trump’s remark, Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Just plain wrong. So disappointing.”
Musk was one of the most prominent supporters of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, spending at least $250 million to support his bid. However, he has been deeply critical of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” a major tax and spending package that passed the Senate with Vice President JD Vance‘s tiebreaking vote. It now heads back to the House.
The package would raise the U.S. debt ceiling by $5 trillion, impose large tax cuts and increase spending on border security and defense. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would add $3.3 trillion to U.S. fiscal deficits over the next decade. The bill also reduces health insurance and food subsidies for some lower-income households.
Musk described the bill as “political suicide” and “utterly insane and destructive,” adding on X, “It gives handouts to industries of the past, while severely damaging industries of the future.”
On Truth Social on Monday, Trump criticized Musk over the subsidies his companies have received and suggested that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk previously ran, could investigate this.
“Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. 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,” Trump wrote.
He continued: “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!!!”
Dalton Brewer, a Tesla owner in Minnesota, shared a screenshot of Trump’s comments on X, adding: “This is actually one of the dumbest posts I’ve seen Trump make. I could say a lot more, but I’ll leave it at that. Very disappointed.”
Musk replied: “Just plain wrong. So disappointing.”
The tech mogul has criticized raising the debt ceiling, arguing that it contradicts his efforts to cut government spending while he was at DOGE between January and May.
On July 1, he wrote on X, “All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America,” adding in a follow-up post, “What’s the point of a debt ceiling if we keep raising it?”
Bobbie Orvis, a senior director of modeling and analysis at the clean energy think tank Energy Innovation, told Newsweek that if passed into law, the One Big Beautiful Bill would threaten 4,500 clean energy projects across the United States as clean energy subsidies would be slashed.
Elon Musk wrote on X on June 30: “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told reporters after voting for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: “My hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said: “Republicans are in shambles because they know the bill is so unpopular.”
Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is heading back to the House, which narrowly passed the package in May. As the legislation has since been significantly amended by the Senate, the White House is likely in for a fight to get the final version through the lower chamber.
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