Washington, July 1 (UNI) Following criticism by Tesla chief over sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that without government subsidies, US entrepreneur Elon Musk would be forced to "close up shop and head back home to South Africa".
"Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one. 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," Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump further suggested that ending support for rocket launches, satellites and electric car production would save the United States "a fortune." He further suggested that the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), previously headed by Musk, "take a good, hard, look at this?"
The lower house of the US Congress in May advanced Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," which cuts federal spending but simultaneously provides serious tax breaks. As a result, according to the Congressional Budget Office, both the budget deficit and the national debt will grow.
Despite divisions within the party about its expected $3.3 trillion hit to the nation's debt pile, Senators have voted in a marathon session known as a "vote-a-rama."
Musk has repeatedly criticized Trump's bill on social media. He said, in particular, that the bill would drive the US's budget deficit up to $2.5 trillion and push American citizens into debt.
"It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people," Musk wrote on X.
"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," Musk posted on X.
He went on to argue that the bill proves Democrats and Republicans are part of a single "PORKY PIG PARTY" that prioritizes reckless spending over the interests of ordinary Americans.
According to analysts, the United States may be on the verge of default by August if Republicans and Democrats in Congress do not agree on raising the debt ceiling. The issue of raising the borrowing limit has often been used in political disputes within Congress between the two US parties in recent years.
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