Cailian Press, July 2nd report (Edited by Xia Junxiong)
Less than a month has passed since the last public spat between U.S. President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk, with the conflict escalating further. Trump threatened to have the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) review Musk’s businesses, stating he might consider expelling Musk from the country.
Over the past year, Musk has become one of the most influential donors to the Republican Party, contributing approximately $300 million to Trump’s reelection campaign. In return, Trump appointed Musk as the leader of the newly established “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). As his “Special Government Employee” (SGE) contract expired earlier this month, Musk formally left the White House.
Following his departure from the White House, Musk immediately launched a fierce attack on Trump on social media platforms, which was promptly countered by Trump. The core of their disagreement lies in a tax reform bill, known as the “Big Beautiful” bill, named for its grandeur and beauty.
The “Big Beautiful” bill primarily focuses on tax cuts and spending reductions, as well as increased defense spending and additional funding for combating illegal immigration.
As Congress advanced the “Big Beautiful” bill, Musk has recently criticized it intensely, even suggesting that if the bill were passed, a new political party should be established.
In response to Musk’s latest attack, Trump did not back down this time. On Tuesday morning, he posted on his own social media platform, Truth Social, stating that he might have DOGE re-examine government support for Musk’s companies, claiming it could “save a lot of money.”
“Elon is probably the person who has received the most subsidies in history, far surpassing others,” Trump wrote. “Without these subsidies, Elon would likely have shut down long ago and returned to South Africa.”
Without rocket launches, satellites, or electric vehicle production, our country could save a significant amount of money.
“Perhaps we should let DOGE take a closer look at this matter?” Trump added.
On Tuesday morning local time, as he left the White House, Trump once again told the media that Musk “is very unhappy” because “he is losing support for electric vehicle subsidies.”
“But he might lose more than just that,” Trump said. “I can tell you, Elon might lose even more.”
“We might have to keep an eye on Elon with DOGE,” he continued. “DOGE is that monster that might need to ‘eat’ Elon back up, wouldn’t that be too bad?”
When asked whether he would consider expelling Musk from the country, Trump replied, “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”
Musk then responded to Trump’s remarks on X, stating, “It’s very tempting to further escalate this situation. Very, very tempting. But I still have to restrain myself.”
As the world’s richest man, Musk owns several star-rated companies, including electric car company Tesla, space exploration technology company SpaceX, artificial intelligence company xAI, social media platform X, and brain-machine interface company Neuralink.
SpaceX and Tesla both have contracts or receive subsidies from the U.S. government, although the exact amounts are not clear. According to media reports previously disclosed, Musk’s enterprises have received at least $38 billion in support from various government grants, tax incentives, and contracts.