Donald Trump Threatens to Unleash DOGE on Elon Musk
NewsweekJUN 28
Trump Threatens Musk's Subsidies Over Spending Bill Criticism
Above: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2025. Image copyright: Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The Spin
Republican narrative
As much as the Trump coalition is grateful for Musk, he's exposing himself as politically illiterate. Despite all the hurdles put in place by establishment Washington, Trump's Big Beautiful Bill has the chance to implement one of the greatest immigration policies and tax cut policies in U.S. history. The Democrats will be the only winners if this infighting continues and the bill doesn't pass.
Conservative narrative
Musk is displaying a better understanding of Americans' needs than most Republicans in Congress. Not only would this bill inflate the national debt, but it wouldn't even include the social policies Trump promised, like kicking illegal immigrants off of socialized health care. This bill is a liberal monstrosity, proving that Republicans are no better than Democrats and should be voted out of office.
Democratic narrative
The GOP is in chaos over this tax bill, a fiscal disaster that neither Trump nor Musk can salvage. Trump's plan balloons the debt while gutting Medicaid and alienating voters, and Musk's critique ignores his own subsidy-driven empire. The party's disarray — evident in Senator Tillis' defection and Hawley's flip-flops — will haunt Republicans in the midterms, as this divisive bill exposes their fractured priorities.