Elon Musk uses Trump's 2013 words on debt ceiling against him

Jun 5, 2025 - 21:01
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Elon Musk uses Trump's 2013 words on debt ceiling against him

Elon Musk’s spat with President Donald Trump over the 'big, beautiful bill, continues to rage, with the Tesla CEO on Thursday using a decade-old social media post to drill home his opposition to the legislation. 

Musk is staunchly opposed to the bill as it will add $2.4 trillion to the national debt, which has already ballooned to $36.2 trillion as of today, according to FOX Business' National Debt Tracker.

On Thursday, Musk shared a January 2013 tweet by the president using Trump’s own words against him. 

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"I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling—I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!" Trump posted in 2013.

Musk shared the tweet and wrote: "wise words."

Musk also shared a July 2012 Trump post that reads: "No member of Congress should be eligible for re-election if our country’s budget is not balanced—deficits not allowed!" Musk scribed: "I couldn’t agree more."

The growing war of words continued throughout Thursday, with Trump saying he is "very disappointed" with Musk.

"Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here better than you people," Trump said in the Oval Office. "He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we're going to have to cut the EV mandate, because that's billions and billions of dollars, and it really is unfair."

Musk shot back on X and wrote: "False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!"

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Musk also clapped back, telling Trump to keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill "even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!)"

"Ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill," Musk raged. "In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way."

Trump maintained that the bill is "incredible" and that the president would rather he criticized him than the bill, telling reporters it's "the biggest cut in the history of our country."

Musk has railed against the bill after his official departure from spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), labeling the measure a "disgusting abomination" due to the fact it ramps up the federal deficit.

"Call your Senator, Call your Congressman," Musk said among a flurry of posts on X. "Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL."

He also repurposed a "Kill Bill" (2003) movie poster to underline his call to action.

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The bill has already passed the House, and Republican leaders are urging its quick passage to prevent the expiration of the 2017 tax cuts and a $4 trillion tax hike they say would hurt the economy.

Musk had been pushing for deeper spending cuts until his new demand that the bill be nuked. Currently, the House GOP’s offering sets a goal of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade that, coupled with expected growth, would help offset the roughly $4 trillion price tag of making the president’s first-term tax cuts permanent.

Musk has also endorsed Sen. Mike Lee’s, R-Utah, proposed a constitutional amendment to automatically remove members of Congress if inflation tops 3%.

Fox News’ Diana Stancy and Alex Miller contributed to this report. 

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