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Elon Musk has criticised Donald Trump’s package of sweeping tax cuts, with the billionaire claiming it will compromise cost-saving measures carried out by his Doge department.
The Tesla founder said he was “disappointed to see the massive spending Bill, which increases the budget deficit, and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing”.
It comes amid broader criticism of Mr Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”, which has promised to deliver $4.5 trillion (£3.3 trillion) worth of tax cuts while significantly increasing America’s deficit.
Mr Musk told CBS: “I think a Bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.”
The billionaire recently stepped back from running the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) to focus on Tesla and SpaceX.
However, during his tenure, the tech tycoon sacked thousands of federal workers in a radical attempt to slash costs.
He has previously warned that the world’s largest economy was going “bankrupt” as a result of its $36.2 trillion debt pile, echoing similar concerns made by economists since Mr Trump came to power.
Mr Musk told the Joe Rogan podcast in January: “If we don’t act, the entire government budget will be used just to pay interest.”
The latest rift also comes after Mr Musk previously lashed out at Mr Trump’s trade tsar Peter Navarro, describing him as “dumber than a sack of bricks” as the pair clashed over the president’s tariff blitz.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, Mr Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” will increase America’s bulging deficit by $3.8 trillion by 2034.
It has drawn criticism from a number of Republicans, which meant that the Bill passed through the US House last week by just a single vote. It is now expected to pass through the Senate.
However, investors are increasingly nervous about the impact the Bill will have on borrowing, particularly after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the country’s credit rating over similar concerns.
While also extending Mr Trump’s tax cuts from 2017, the Bill will also ramp up spending on border security, scale back clean energy credits and impose work requirements for the health insurance programme Medicaid.
Mr Trump has said he wants the Bill ready to be signed by July 4.