Elon Musk’s once-close relationship with President Donald Trump appears to be fracturing, following sharp public criticism of the White House’s latest fiscal policies and treatment of Musk’s interests—particularly the Dogecoin (DOGE) community.
Speaking ahead of a SpaceX Starship launch on Tuesday night, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO slammed the Trump administration’s newly proposed $3.8 trillion spending package, claiming it undermines innovation and unfairly targets his initiatives.
“It undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told CBS bluntly, adding, “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it.”
According to the Daily Mail, in interviews with multiple outlets, Musk decried what he sees as scapegoating, saying that DOGE is being made a convenient villain in national discourse.
“DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” he told The Washington Post. “Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”
Musk’s falling out with Trump is especially notable given their formerly close alliance. After making substantial contributions and vocal public endorsements during the 2024 campaign, Musk became a regular figure in Trump’s second-term administration.
Dubbed the “First Buddy,” Musk was frequently seen in White House meetings, offering strategic advice and even bringing his son, X, into high-level discussions.
However, Musk’s aggressive cost-cutting measures in federal agencies—championed as reform by some—sparked intense backlash within the government.
These efforts, which included major job cuts, drew the ire of bureaucrats and political operatives alike.
As discontent grew, violent protests erupted at Tesla locations, and the company’s stock prices plummeted, fueling rumors that Tesla’s board was considering new leadership.
Reflecting on his political involvement, Musk admitted to ARS Technica that he may have overextended himself: “I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics.
It’s not like I left the companies. It was just relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I’ve reduced that significantly in recent weeks.”
Musk also took aim at Trump’s self-congratulatory nickname for the new budget proposal—calling it the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Musk quipped, “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.”
With the U.S. national debt already at $36 trillion, the proposed legislation is projected to add another $3.8 trillion. Musk expressed frustration at what he sees as the deeply entrenched inefficiencies in Washington.
“The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,” he remarked. “I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least.”
As the rift deepens, it remains to be seen whether Musk will continue to influence federal policy—or if he’ll retreat to focus on his companies and ventures, leaving the political battlefield behind.
