The US President and the world's richest man are in a very public feud as the ex-DOGE chief widely criticises Trump's 'big beautiful spending bill'

13:40, Tue, Jul 1, 2025 | UPDATED: 14:14, Tue, Jul 1, 2025

President Trump Holds Press Conference With Musk As He Departs DOGE

President Trump held a White House press conference with Musk when he left government (Image: Getty)

Donald Trump has hinted he is considering deporting Elon Musk.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House today, President Trump was asked if world's richest man Musk, a naturalised American citizen originally from South Africa, could be deported in the wake of his attacks on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act currently under debate in the Senate.

The President replied: “I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look.”

Trump went on to add that the administration might turn the quasi-agency once run by Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency, on his ex-friend.

He said: “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon."

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Donald Trump made the threat outside the White House on Tuesday (Image: Getty)

A long-simmering feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk exploded into public view again this week, as the US president took to Truth Social to attack the billionaire entrepreneur, telling him to “head back home to South Africa” and accusing him of surviving on government handouts.

The outburst followed a string of fiery posts by Musk on X (formerly Twitter), in which he condemned Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, known among critics as the "big beautiful bill." Musk, who has clashed with Trump in recent weeks, accused politicians who backed the legislation of hypocrisy and pledged to help unseat them.

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“Those who campaigned on cutting spending but voted for this should hang their heads in shame,” Musk wrote. “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”

He also threatened to launch a poster campaign featuring the faces of lawmakers who supported the bill, labelling them “liars” who voted to increase America’s debt by $5 trillion.