US President Donald Trump lashed out at Elon Musk on July 1, suggesting the billionaire could have been forced to head back to South Africa were it not for government subsidies in the electric vehicles industry.
In a statement posted to his social media platform, Trump reiterated his opposition to electric vehicle subsidies and accused Musk of benefitting disproportionately from federal subsidies.
“Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV mandate,” Trump wrote. “Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one.”
Trump also warned that Musk’s departure could mean an end to “rocket launches, satellites, or electric car production,” and said such a move would save the U.S. government “a FORTUNE.”
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The president concluded his statement with a cryptic reference to “DOGE,”.
“Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this?” Trump added.
Elon Support
The attack comes despite a recent public show of support from Musk, who has grown increasingly critical of Democratic climate policies.
Musk has not responded publicly to Trump’s remarks.
Though Trump’s administration supported some EV initiatives and Tesla benefited from federal tax credits and NASA contracts during his tenure, the Trump-admin has more recently aligned with fossil fuel interests and pledged to roll back Biden-era environmental regulations if elected in 2024.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was born in South Africa but became a U.S. citizen in 2002.
While known for his business ventures, he has increasingly waded into political territory, endorsing some Republican policies and candidates.
The two men have maintained an occasionally uneasy relationship, with overlapping political and financial interests.
Trump Online Clash with Elon
This comes after Elon made a U-turn on his criticism of President Donald Trump.
In a social media post on June 11, 2025, Elon Musk expressed regret over the public comments he made about former President Donald Trump.
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“I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far,” he posted
On June 3, 2025, Elon Musk took to X to sharply criticize President Donald Trump’s signature legislation, officially known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, labelling it a “disgusting abomination”.
Musk, who recently stepped down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), expressed strong opposition to the bill, which narrowly cleared the House in May.
He condemned it as bloated with unnecessary spending and warned that it would add an estimated $2.5 trillion to the federal deficit over the next ten years.
President Donald Trump stated that he was disappointed over Elon Musk’s criticism of his administration’s flagship tax and spending bill, suggesting it could mark the end of their great relationship.
In response, Musk accused Trump of ingratitude, declaring, “Without me, Trump would have lost the election.”
Elon also posted, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. You know you did wrong. You know it.”
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