On January 29th, President Trump discussed his relationship with American entrepreneur Elon Musk, describing Musk as “a bit disheartened” and his recent actions as “improper.” The day before, Musk had fiercely criticized the “big and beautiful” tax and spending bill pushed by Trump.
On January 19th, in Washington, D.C., Musk (left) and Trump attended a rally together (photo from Xinhua News Agency/U.S. Media Partnership).
“We didn’t have much to talk about with him”
In an interview with Fox News on January 29th, Trump was asked, “Have you talked to Elon Musk? What happened?”
“We didn’t have much to talk about with him, but I think Elon is a great person, and I know he will continue to do well,” Trump replied. “He’s a smart guy. He once joined me in campaign activities. But then he became somewhat disheartened, which is not appropriate.”
The question was: “Why disheartened? Because he didn’t get what he wanted?”
Trump answered, “Regarding the mandatory policies for electric vehicles, it was difficult for him. You know, I don’t want everyone to own an electric vehicle.”
Is this about Musk’s personal interests?
Musk has repeatedly criticized the “big and beautiful” bill. On the 28th, the Senate considered a draft of the bill, and Musk posted on social media that the bill “will destroy millions of American jobs and cause significant damage to our country.” He harshly criticized the bill as “extremely crazy and destructive,” “giving handouts to sunset industries while severely harming future ones.”
Screenshot of Musk’s criticism of the “big and beautiful” bill.
According to media reports, the content of the “big and beautiful” bill involves sensitive political issues in the United States, including substantial cuts in tax rates, new energy subsidies, and social security expenditures, as well as increased military and border security spending. It is estimated that the bill will increase the debt of the U.S. federal government by approximately $3.8 trillion over the next decade.
American media believe that some clauses of the bill are closely related to Musk’s interests, and his criticism of the bill is one of the main reasons for the worsening of his relationship with Trump.
In response to Musk’s criticism, Trump had said that Musk’s dissatisfaction stemmed from the proposal to cancel the tax credit for electric vehicle consumers, which affected Musk’s interests as CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla.
According to CNN, Tesla’s sales performance has significantly declined this year, necessitating the continuation of the tax credit policy to maintain market demand. Morgan Stanley previously estimated that if the tax credit policy were to be abolished, Tesla would lose about $120 million annually.