Trump floats balancing budget by cutting Musk's government contracts

President Donald Trump on Thursday hit back at Elon Musk over his criticisms of the "big, beautiful bill", suggesting that the government end the contracts and subsidies to his companies in order to balance the budget.

"The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!" he posted on Truth Social. 

"Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!" he added.

Trump's remarks follow Musk calling the "big, beautiful bill" a "disgusting abomination" over its failure to address deficit spending. Since leaving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has fumed over Congress's apparent disinterest in codifying the spending cuts Musk recommended.

Earlier on Thursday, Musk took credit for Trump's 2024 election victory and suggested he had been ungrateful for his support.

"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk posted. "Such ingratitude."