Is Elon Musk About to Self-Destruct?

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

On one hand, we can’t really blame Elon Musk for disliking President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill: Musk spent most of the last 100 days searching high and low for programs to cut. (And he did so, by the way, at immense personal cost.) From Musk’s perspective, these new spending programs are tantamount to a Macron-style slap in the face. 

Advertisement

He probably feels unappreciated and disrespected. Maybe even betrayed by MAGA.

Here’s the tweet that triggered the firestorm:

Lots of people whine about politics on social media. Nothing unusual about that. For most Americans, social media is our best tool for expressing our opinions to as many folks as possible — and maybe even (knock on wood) be heard by the politicians themselves.

But Elon Musk isn’t most Americans. If he wanted to let Trump know what he thought of the Big Beautiful Bill, he didn’t have to post on X. Elon Musk has a personal relationship with the president, for crying out loud: All he had to do was talk to him!

Which means his target audience wasn’t President Trump. It was the American people. 

And his goal, it seems, is to rally public opinion against President Trump’s legislation. Musk followed his first tweet with an ominous warning:

According to the New York Post, Musk’s anger had been building for a while:

Sources familiar with Musk’s thinking told The Post Tuesday evening that his scorched-earth rant was largely motivated by four factors: 

  • House Republicans’ removal of electric vehicle tax credits that were part of the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act and boosted Tesla
  • White House officials’ refusal to allow him to remain a special government employee beyond the 130-day statutory limit
  • The Federal Aviation Administration opting not to use his Starlink satellite system to help run the nation’s air traffic control
  • Trump pulling his nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman to lead NASA over Isaacman’s “prior associations,” widely believed to refer to past donations to Democrats
Advertisement

Is the Big Beautiful Bill perfect? Of course not. If there were more conservatives in Congress, would the bill have been written differently? Absolutely.

But the reality is, with a razor-thin majority in the House, the GOP has limited latitude to make meaningful spending cuts. The kind of bill that Musk (and many others, including me) prefers wouldn’t get enough votes.

The legislation would fail.

Being the president of the United States isn’t like being the CEO of Tesla, where you rule the roost with an iron fist. The president is one branch in a three-headed Cerberus — and sometimes, taking home half a loaf of bread is the best you can do.

Of course, if Musk wants to help MAGA increase the number of conservatives in the House, we could pass new legislation in 2026. There’s nothing in this bill that prohibits future spending cuts. 

But the bottom line is, the Big Beautiful Bill is pretty damn close to the best we can do today.

And I know we’ve all heard that promise before — that spending cuts will come down the road — and each time, those promises have gone unfulfilled. That’s because federal spending cuts are really frickin’ hard to pass! Every government program, no matter how silly or frivolous, benefits someone. If you threaten their funding, they’ll scream bloody murder and accuse you of killing children

Well, tough beans, buttercup. That just means we’ve gotta work harder.

As it is, the Big Beautiful Bill passed by a 215 to 214 margin. It’s not like Trump was leaving meat on the bone!

Advertisement

Elon Musk, I suspect, is having an emotional reaction. Despite his cyborg-like exterior, the man is only human: He’s been called a Nazi. His cars are getting firebombed. Tesla is hated by liberals. There’s “baby momma” drama. And lately, the rumors of rampant drug use have reached a fever pitch.

If anyone is overdue for an emotional breakdown, it’s Musk.

Hopefully, President Trump can reach out directly to Musk and salve his wounded feelings. Musk is a genius, but he’s a neurodivergent genius — which makes him tricky to predict. 

Either way, there are ominous storm clouds ahead.

One Last Thing: The Democrats are on the ropes, but make no mistake: The donkeys are still dangerous. 2025 will either go down in history as the year we finally Made America Great Again — or the year it all slipped through our fingers. We need your help to succeed! As a VIP member, you’ll receive exclusive access to all our family of sites (PJ Media, Townhall, RedState, twitchy, Hot Air, Bearing Arms): More stories, more videos, more content, more fun, more conservatism, more EVERYTHING! And if you CLICK HERE and use the promo code FIGHT you’ll receive a Trumpian 60% discount! 

Thank you for your consideration!

Recommended

Trending on PJ Media Videos

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Advertisement
Advertisement