Former U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to cancel expensive government contracts with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s companies, stating that he doesn’t want to talk to Musk. Tesla is an electric vehicle manufacturer. The tension between Trump and Musk, who spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Trump’s presidential campaign, arose when it became clear that Musk’s companies would not receive benefits under a new bill proposed by Trump’s administration regarding a new bill proposed by Trump’s administration regarding taxes and spending.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he doesn’t think about Tesla’s CEO and wishes the company a happy future. However, Trump revealed that he has decided to review the contracts given to the company by the government. “We will look at all of those [agreements] carefully. It’s a lot of money,” he said. The agreements Trump mentioned canceling include contracts given to Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX and agreements with Starlink, an internet service provider.
An unnamed White House official said that Trump is considering returning the Tesla-brand car he purchased. Musk has been criticizing government policies since been criticizing government policies since falling out with Trump’s administration. He has been particularly critical of the “Big, Beautiful Bill” proposed by Trump’s Republican Party regarding tax cuts and spending. Musk posted on his social media platform X that the bill would cause significant political damage to the Republican Party and increase America’s foreign debt, which stands at $36.2 trillion. He also suggested the need for a new political party to represent 80% of America’s middle-income citizens.
Musk is currently the world’s richest person. He was also one of the biggest donors to Trump’s campaign in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, reportedly spending about $300 billion. In appreciation, Trump had given Musk a high-ranking government position. Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to streamline government operations and put Musk in charge of it. The main objective of this department was to reduce government spending and the number of federal employees.
However, last week, Musk distanced himself from this department as well. Although Musk had promised to save $2 billion in government spending through DOGE, only 1% of this goal was achieved when he left. It’s worth noting that thousands of federal employees were fired on Musk’s orders, which increased dissatisfaction with Trump’s administration.
Musk described the Republican Party’s proposed bill as very “nasty.” With Musk opposing the bill, analysts believe it will face challenges in passing through Congress. The House of Representatives passed the bill last month. Republican members of Congress said they would propose amendments to the bill. Economic experts say that if the bill passes, it could add $2.4 trillion to America’s foreign debt over the next 10 years.
