Musk criticises Trump tax bill, says can’t be both big and beautiful

WASHINGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk has criticised President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill, saying it detracts from his efforts to shrink the US budget deficit.

“So, I was like disappointed to see the massive spending bill frankly, which increases the budget deficit not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said in an interview with CBS “Sunday Morning,” broadcast late on Tuesday.

“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both,” Musk said in the interview.

Musk, the world’s richest man, was appointed by Trump in February to lead his administration’s chaotic reform of the federal government as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed the sweeping tax and spending bill that would enact much of Trump’s policy agenda and saddle the country with trillions of dollars more in debt.

Trump and his fellow Republicans, which passed the measure by a single vote, have dubbed the legislation the “big, beautiful bill.” It will add about $3.8 trillion to the federal government’s $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The US Senate is now considering the measure, as several Republican senators have also criticised the legislation for increasing the deficit. 

A DOGE website that claims it has saved US taxpayers billions of dollars has been riddled with errors and corrections.

Earlier, Musk had also distanced himself from Trump’s tariff policy. He wants to see a zero-tariff regime given the fact that Tesla has parts made in North America, China and Europe.

THE AFFAIR

Meanwhile, many people have been predicting a “divorce” between Musk and Trump, despite the enthusiastic support the Tesla owner extended to the US president before and after the presidential election last.

Musk has even ensured that X – his social media platform – became a tool to project the far-right narrative, not only in the US but also around the world, to help Trump re-enter the White House.

In fact, their relationship has been described as “bromance”, with the debate revolving around the question for how long the relationship long.

Hence, those seeing a short-term relation have supposedly won.