Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / KILL the BILL’: Elon Musk Goes Nuclear on Trump’s Megabill, Slams Deficit Surge and EV Cuts in Online Blitz
Transcript
- 0:02Your ultimate authority for daily Elon Musk news.
- 0:06Exploring the world's biggest ideas with your host Will
- 0:09Walden. There's something new every day.
- 0:17Elon Musk. Instructed his two. 100 million
- 0:19ex. Followers to kill the.
- 0:21Bill on Wednesday intensifying his tax on Donald Trump and his
- 0:25signature spending legislation. In a non-stop stream of posts,
- 0:29he called the bill a disgusting abomination, claimed it would
- 0:33bankrupt the country and accused Congress of failing the American
- 0:36people. The comments marked the new peak
- 0:38in Musk's opposition campaign, which has grown louder and more
- 0:42aggressive over the past 48 hours.
- 0:45Now Musk, who had dialed back his political posting in recent
- 0:48months, returned in force this week with more than 25 posts and
- 0:53reposts hammering this legislation.
- 0:55He framed the bill as dangerous and fiscally irresponsible,
- 0:58writing mammoth spending bills are bankrupting America enough.
- 1:03In another post, he urged followers to pressure lawmakers
- 1:06directly, saying call your senator, call your congressman.
- 1:09Bankrupting America is not OK now.
- 1:13House Speaker Mike Johnson responded to Musk's criticisms
- 1:16on Wednesday morning, saying Musk was flat wrong about the
- 1:19bill's effect on the deficit. Johnson told reporters that he
- 1:22tried to call Musk Tuesday night to discuss the issue, but Elon
- 1:26Musk didn't answer him. In a video posted by Johnson in
- 1:30comments, Musk fired back. We need a new bill that doesn't
- 1:33grow the deficit. And then he posted.
- 1:36No one who actually reads the bill should be able to stomach
- 1:40it. Johnson pushed back harder
- 1:42during a media gaggle outside his office.
- 1:44He defended the bill's content in scope, stating that we don't
- 1:48have time for a brand new bill. He described the legislation as
- 1:52complex and praised that he called record setting tax cuts
- 1:56and savings for Americans. Johnson said Musk should
- 1:59recognize the complexity of what we've accomplished here and
- 2:02dismissed the idea of starting over now.
- 2:04Musk's latest offensive follows earlier comments this week
- 2:08recalled the Trump backed bill. Massive outrageous pork filled
- 2:12His post have amplified criticisms from other lawmakers
- 2:15like Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee, who also opposed the bill
- 2:18for its projected impact on the national deficit.
- 2:21Analysts from the Congressional Budget Office estimate the bill
- 2:25will add over a trillion dollars to the deficit, even after
- 2:28accounting for expected economic growth.
- 2:31Now, beyond concerns over the deficit, must disapproval
- 2:35appears to be fueled by several personal and business
- 2:38grievances. Multiple people who've spoken to
- 2:40Musk and Trump in recent weeks describe a growing rift between
- 2:44them. Sources said that Musk privately
- 2:46objected to a provision in the bill that would eliminate tax
- 2:49credits for electric vehicles. That's a decision that directly
- 2:52effects Tesla's competitiveness in the EV market now.
- 2:56Although Musk had previously said he supported phasing out EV
- 2:59tax credits, Tesla's position has shifted.
- 3:02The company now argues that eliminating energy tax credits
- 3:05too quickly would threaten America's energy independence
- 3:09and the reliability of our grid. Tesla posted that message
- 3:13earlier this week as Congress debated the bill.
- 3:16Frustration has also been building over the Trump
- 3:18administration's artificial intelligence partnerships.
- 3:21According to sources familiar with the situation, Elon Musk
- 3:24was angered by the White House's recent collaboration with Open
- 3:27AI. That's a company that Elon Musk
- 3:30has Co founded but has since criticized.
- 3:33The deal reportedly excluded Musk's current AI company, which
- 3:36sources say contributed to his increasingly public
- 3:39dissatisfaction with the administration.
- 3:41Another came with the quiet withdrawal of Jared Isaacman's
- 3:44nomination to lead NASA. Isaacman, who is a known ally of
- 3:48Musk and the pilot of several SpaceX missions, had been tapped
- 3:52for the administrator role but was dropped from consideration
- 3:55over the weekend. Sources close to Musk said he
- 3:58viewed the move as a personal snub and a sign of shifting of
- 4:01agencies inside the Trump administration.
- 4:05Now, tensions have also resurfaced on trade policy.
- 4:08In April, Musk lashed out at Trump's trade advisor Peter
- 4:11Navarro, calling him a moron and Dumber than a sack of bricks.
- 4:14In multiple X posts. Tesla executives later said Musk
- 4:18had underestimated how harmful the administration's tariffs
- 4:21would be to companies, supply chain and foreign manufacturing
- 4:24operations, and the White House declined to comment on Musk's
- 4:28latest statements. Representative for Musk also did
- 4:30not respond to our request for comment.
- 4:33And despite the silence from official channels, the rift
- 4:36between Trump and Musk is growing more visible.
- 4:40Musk's rapid fire posts. We're already shaping the
- 4:42political narrative around the bill, with some Democrats even
- 4:45seizing the moment. Senate Minority Leader Chuck
- 4:48Schumer brought a print out of Musk's post to a news
- 4:51conference, telling reporters he's right, Republican should
- 4:54listen to him. The One Big Bill, One Big
- 4:57Beautiful Bill Act passed the House under pressure from Trump
- 5:00and his team, who framed opposition as disloyalty.
- 5:04But the bill faces a difficult path in the Senate, where some
- 5:07Republican fiscal conservatives are demanding deeper cuts and
- 5:10threatening to stall the legislation unless Medicaid and
- 5:13other safety net programs are further reduced.
- 5:17Now, Trump has publicly warned Republicans not to touch
- 5:20Medicaid, recognizing the many of his supporters rely on it.
- 5:24Now. That warning puts him at odds
- 5:26with the same conservatives that Musk is now amplifying.
- 5:29And as internal GOP battles intensify, Musk's voice and his
- 5:34threat to fund primary challenges is adding pressure
- 5:37from outside Capitol Hill. Elon has escalated his campaign
- 5:43against Trump's mega bill weaponizing X, and influenced
- 5:48challenge both the substance of the legislation and the
- 5:52administration's broader direction.
- 5:56Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
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