Trump would have lost election without me, says Elon Musk

Elon Musk, the tech mogul, says US President Donald Trump would have lost the 2024 election without him.

Musk made the comment on X in response to Trump’s criticism against him.

Musk, who led the department of government efficiency (DOGE), quit his role a day after he spoke out against a Trump-backed spending bill. The president called it a “Big Beautiful Bill”.

The controversial bill is a centrepiece of Trump’s second-term domestic agenda, combining major tax cuts, stricter immigration enforcement, welfare programme overhauls, and significant increases in border security funding.

The legislation sparked intense debate across the country and in Congress and was only passed after a nail-biting 215-214 vote.

The plan revived the US-Mexico border wall with a $46.5 billion budget, $350 billion for deportation efforts and border security, and a hiring spree of 10,000 new ICE agents, 5,000 customs officers, and 3,000 border patrol agents.

For the first time, migrants will be charged a $1,000 fee to apply for asylum.

The bill also authorises a $4 trillion increase to the national debt ceiling, while the estate tax exemption jumped to $15 million, benefiting wealthier Americans.

Critics including Musk called the bill fiscally irresponsible and “a disgusting abomination” due to its combination of large tax cuts and spending increases.

Musk had clamoured for DOGE’s creation to save taxpayers $2 trillion.
Only $160 billion has been saved so far.

TRUMP: I’M VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH ELON

Since Musk’s exit from the White House last week, his criticism of the bill has grown louder.

Speaking on the issue, Trump said he was “very disappointed with Elon”.

The US president said the Tesla CEO was satisfied with the bill but only grew discontent after he found out electric vehicles would be impacted.

“I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here. He knew everything about it, and all of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed a problem when he found out I was going to cut the EV mandate because that’s billions and billions of dollars,” the president said.

“And it really is unfair; we want to have cars of all types.

“He said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn’t said anything bad about me personally, but I’m sure that will be next. But I’m really disappointed with Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.”

Trump praised Musk for his work at DOGE but blamed his tantrums on missing the office.

“Elon worked hard at DOGE, and I think he misses the place. I think he got out there, and all of a sudden, he’s no longer in this beautiful Oval Office,” he said.

“He’s not the first. People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile. I don’t know what it is, some sort of Trump derangement syndrome.”

The president also said he would have won Pennsylvania, a key state, without Musk’s help.

In reaction, the billionaire businessman countered Trump.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House, and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk tweeted.

“Such ingratitude.”

The exchange marks yet another dent in the tumultuous relationship between the two-time American president and the world’s richest man.