On Sunday night, amid protests in the Los Angeles area, Musk posted a screenshot of a Truth Social post from Trump denouncing California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass.
The president and his allies have cast the ongoing demonstrations, which began in response to immigration raids, as an "insurrection." His administration ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard members to the LA area over Newsom's objections.
Earlier on Sunday night, Musk reposted a Truth Social post screenshot from Vice President JD Vance about the administration's response, adding two American flag emojis.
He also shared an image of a masked protester waving a Mexican flag on top of a damaged vehicle, writing: "This is not ok."
The posts come just days after the feud between Musk and Trump reached a fever pitch last week. At one point, Musk approvingly shared a post suggesting that Trump be impeached, while Trump floated revoking Musk's companies' government contracts.
Trump has said that he has no plans to repair his relationship with Musk.
The feud began after Musk departed his role as the informal leader of the White House DOGE Office, with the tech titan criticizing Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" for adding trillions to the deficit over the next 10 years.
Across several recent interviews, Musk has criticized Trump's legislative agenda, said he's stepping back from spending money on elections, and said he's spent too much time on politics.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Elon Musk has sat down for at least five interviews in recent days.
He's criticized Trump's spending bill and said he's spent too much time on politics.
Here's what to know about each interview Musk has given.
After months of largely avoiding sit-down interviews as he devoted time to DOGE, the tech titan suddenly seems to be all over the place.
Across five recent and forthcoming interviews, Musk has reflected on the work of DOGE, offered some criticism of President Donald Trump's legislative agenda, and indicated he's trying to spend less time on politics and more time on his companies.
Here's what you should know about what he said in each interview.
Bloomberg: Musk says he's spending less on politics
Perhaps the biggest revelation from Musk's sit-down with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum last week is that he's no longer going to be spending big on politics, like he did in the 2024 election.
"I think I've done enough," Musk said. "If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason."
If the tech titan holds true to those comments, Republicans will be losing out on what could have been tens of millions of dollars in political spending. Last year, Musk spent nearly $300 million, mostly on Trump.
"The DOGE team has done incredible work, but the magnitude of the savings is proportionate to the support we get from Congress and from the executive branch of the government in general," Musk said.
CNBC: New Tesla announcements
Musk's CNBC interview, which also took place last Tuesday, was mostly about Tesla.
"We'll start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40," Musk said. "It will probably be at 1,000 within a few months." He's previously said the ramp-up will be quick.
He also mentioned that he still planned to be in Washington on a weekly basis, even as he spends more time on his companies.
"My rough plan on the White House is to be there for a couple days every few weeks, and to be helpful where I can be helpful," Musk said.
Ars Technica: Musk says he's spent too much time on politics
Musk spoke with Ars Technica, a tech-focused publication, in an Q&A published on Tuesday.
Though he mostly talked about SpaceX, he also said he's been too involved in politics since wading into the 2024 presidential race last year.
"I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics," Musk told the outlet. "It's not like I left the companies. It was just relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I've reduced that significantly in recent weeks."
The Washington Post: Musk laments that DOGE has become a 'whipping boy'
In an interview with the Washington Post, also published on Tuesday, Musk said that the "federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized" and that it's an "uphill battle trying to improve things" in Washington, DC.
He also lamented the political backlash that DOGE has generated, especially from Democrats.
"DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything," he said. "So, like, something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it."
That backlash has extended to his companies, particularly Tesla.
"People were burning Teslas," Musk said. "Why would you do that? That's really uncool."
"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. "I think a vote can be big, or it could be beautiful. I don't know if it could be both."
And that's just what we know from a clip that was released on Tuesday. The rest of the interview is set to air on Sunday, June 1.
Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio (left) and Thomas Massie of Kentucky (right) were the only two House Republicans to vote against the bill.
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
Two House Republicans voted against the "Big Beautiful Bill" on Thursday.
Now, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says Trump wants them to face primary challenges.
"I don't think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress," she said.
Four months into his second term, President Donald Trump wants members of his own party thrown out of office over their perceived lack of loyalty to his "Big Beautiful Bill"
That was the message delivered by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt after two Republicans — Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — voted against Trump's bill as it passed the House on Thursday.
Asked by a reporter at a briefing later on Thursday whether Trump think the duo should be primaried, Leavitt responded: "I believe he does."
Q: Two Republicans votes against this bill -- Massie and Davidson -- does the president believe they should be primaried?
LEAVITT: I believe he does and I don't think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress ... the vast majority of Republicans are listening to the president.… pic.twitter.com/Bi55fQ1Qai
"I don't think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress," Leavitt said. "'What's the alternative?' I would ask those members of Congress. Did they want to see a tax hike? Did they want to see our country go bankrupt?"
Both Massie and Davidson are deficit hawks who voted against the bill because, in their view, it did not cut spending enough.
I agree with @WarrenDavidson. If we were serious, we’d be cutting spending now, instead of promising to cut spending years from now. https://t.co/DFxTyhhYA9
Other Republicans have raised concerns about the bill's effect on the deficit but voted for it anyway. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, the chairman of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, voted "present."
"For voting on principle, I now have the President AND his press Secretary campaigning against me from the White House podium," Massie wrote. "Can you help me by donating?"
A spokesperson for Davidson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While the Ohio congressman doesn't typically cross Trump, the president has long been critical of Massie — and vice versa. The Kentucky Republican backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the 2024 GOP primary, and Trump previously called for Massie to face a primary challenge in 2020.
Earlier this week, Trump bashed Massie in front of reporters.
"I don't think Thomas Massie understands government. I think he's a grandstander," Trump said on Tuesday. "I think he should be voted out of office."
"That is not unusual," said Sen. Ted Cruz. "You have things like Obamacare that were named after President Obama."
Win McNamee/Getty Images
The GOP renamed "MAGA accounts" to "Trump accounts."
If approved, $1,000 will go to any baby born between 2024 and 2028.
Sen. Ted Cruz — the person who came up with the idea — says he doesn't mind the Trumpified name.
First, they were called "MAGA accounts." Now, they're "Trump accounts."
As part of their "One Big Beautiful Bill," Republicans on Capitol Hill want to establish new investment accounts for American children. Under the plan, babies born after January 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029 — essentially, the last three years of President Donald Trump's term — will receive $1,000 for the account from the federal government.
The original name was an acronym for "Money Account for Growth and Advancement" — the same initials as Trump's political movement. In a last-minute change before the House passed their version of the "Big Beautiful Bill" on Thursday, "MAGA" was replaced with "Trump."
While the president stands to get the credit, it was Sen. Ted Cruz's idea to create "Invest America" accounts. The Texas Republican says he doesn't mind.
"What I care is that they remain in there," Cruz told BI, referring to the provision's inclusion in the larger bill. "I think it doesn't matter what they're called. What it matters is what they do."
In terms of political branding, it's further than other recent presidents have gone. President Joe Biden, for instance, chose not to sign COVID-19 stimulus checks like Trump did — though he later said it was "stupid" not to do so.
Other government-backed programs have taken on the name of their creators. The Affordable Care Act, championed by President Barack Obama, is commonly known as "Obamacare," though that was initially a Republican epithet. And Sens. William Roth and Claiborne Pell have also found their names written into the tax code.
"That is not unusual," Cruz said. "You have things like Roth IRAs that were named after Senator Roth. You have things like Pell Grants that were named after Senator Pell. You have things like Obamacare that were named after President Obama."
It's unclear exactly why the accounts were named after Trump, and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Cruz had pitched the idea as a way to give kids a stake in the free market from an early age, allowing them to potentially reap financial benefits down the line while making them less likely to support socialism.
"It enables every newborn child in America to experience the enormous benefits of compounded growth, and to accumulate significant resources with the passage of time," Cruz said. "It creates a generation of new capitalists."
According to the bill, individuals with "Trump accounts" will be able to use the savings for things like higher education and first-time home purchases starting at age 18.
Money taken out of the account for those purposes will be taxed as long-term capital gains, while money withdrawn for other purposes is taxed as regular income.
The bill, which Republicans will be working to pass over the next several weeks, is the centerpiece of Trump's legislative agenda.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Republicans are trying to pass Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" in the coming weeks.
It includes new tax cuts, changes to Medicaid, saving accounts for kids, and other provisions.
Here's what you should know about the centerpiece of Trump's legislative agenda.
For months, President Donald Trump has pursued his sweeping agenda through executive actions. Now comes the hard part.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are finally putting pen to paper on what Trump has called the "One Big Beautiful Bill," a sweeping fiscal package that will serve as the centerpiece of the president's legislative agenda.
It will take weeks for lawmakers in the House and Senate to work out the final details, and it's likely that some changes will be made along the way. Republicans hope to send the bill to Trump's desk by July 4.
Here's what you should know about what's in the "One Big Beautiful Bill."
The bill includes cuts to Medicaid, and millions could lose health coverage
As part of the plan approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, states would implement work requirements in 2029 for childless adults on Medicaid who do not have a disability, mandating they work for 80 hours a month.
A component of the plan would increase the price of doctors' visits, mandating beneficiaries making above the federal poverty limit to pay co-payments of up to $35. States would also be required to stop taxing hospitals and nursing homes in order to secure more federal funding.
Medicaid recipients in some states would have more paperwork to regularly confirm their residency status and income. And the plan would lower federal funding for some recipients in states that fund medical coverage for undocumented immigrants.
The Congress Budget Office estimated the legislation would save about $912 billion over the next decade in federal spending, about $715 billion of which would derive from Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts. The CBO said about 8.6 million people could lose their insurance coverage.
The plan came short of expectations among some ultraconservatives who wanted more Medicaid cuts at the federal level. Some GOP leaders wanted per-capita caps for those in Medicaid expansion states and a lower across-the-board rate at which the federal government supplements each state's funding for Medicaid programs.
Democrats have strongly opposed the bill, emphasizing that millions of Americans will potentially have their lives uprooted by Medicaid cuts.
No tax on tips or overtime, making Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent, and more
Some of Trump's flashiest campaign promises were to remove taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security. This bill largely gets those done, but only for the next four years — lawmakers will have to decide whether to renew the cuts in 2029.
The bill would allow workers in an "occupation that traditionally and customarily receives tips" to claim a tax deduction for the sum of all tips that they received in the previous year. It would also do the same for overtime wages. Neither deduction is available to anyone who is a "highly compensated employee."
To help accomplish Trump's "no taxes on Social Security" pledge, Republicans created a new $4,000 tax deduction for seniors making less than $75,000 per year. There's also a provision in the bill to fulfill Trump's promise of no taxes on car loan interest.
Republicans are working to pass the bill over the next several weeks.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
There's also an extension of the child tax credit, which is currently $2,000 but was set to decrease to $1,000 after this year. The bill would increase the credit to $2,500 through 2028, then it would drop to $2,000 permanently after that.
If you're thinking of buying an electric vehicle, you might want to do so before the end of the year. The bill would eliminate existing tax credits for new and used EVs, and it would impose an annual registration fee of $250 for EV owners.
The bill also makes permanent a slew of tax cuts that Trump and Republicans enacted in 2017. The average American won't feel much of a difference, since they've probably gotten used to the existing tax rates and brackets that have existed since 2018. But it's the most consequential part of the bill from a budgetary perspective, adding trillions to the deficit over the next several years.
MAGA savings accounts
The bill establishes "Money account for growth and advancement" accounts, or MAGA accounts, for children. The idea was originally proposed by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
The federal government would pay $1,000 to babies born from 2024 through 2028. After the cutoff, parents will still be able to put $5,000 per year into each account.
Cruz's proposal is similar to previous Democratic-led efforts for "baby bonds," but the biggest difference is that there is no income cutoff. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a Democrat, envisioned a program primarily targeted at low-income families.
Ted Cruz originally proposed the idea for MAGA accounts.
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
A repeal of Biden's student loan forgiveness plans
If enacted, the reconciliation bill would mean major changes for student-loan borrowers. The legislation proposes terminating all existing income-driven student-loan repayment plans, including Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment plan, which would have shortened the timeline for debt relief and provided cheaper monthly payments. While SAVE is currently paused due to litigation, Trump and Republican lawmakers have said they would not carry out the plan if it survives in court.
Under the bill, borrowers would have two repayment plan options: one, called the Repayment Assistance Plan, would allow for loan forgiveness after 360 qualifying payments, and the other option would be a standard repayment plan with a fixed monthly payment over a fixed time period set by the servicer.
Payments made under the Repayment Assistance Plan would be calculated based on the borrower's income and would count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
A 10-year ban on state-level AI laws
House lawmakers handed a major win to Big Techby including a 10-year federal preemption on all state artificial intelligence laws in the larger bill. Congress has talked about a federal AI policy, but no serious legislative proposals have emerged.
In the meantime, states have tried to fill to void. Major tech companies have long fought state-level AI regulations. Last year, California lawmakers passed the nation's most sweeping AI legislation only for Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto it.
Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic lobbied against California's bill. Meta recently wrote to the White House that state laws "could impede innovation and investment."
The issue isn't going away. In the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers in at least 45 states introduced AI-related bills, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Unlike most of the other provisions on this list, the AI regulation ban faces major hurdles to making it into law. Republicans must adhere to strict parliamentary rules to pass Trump's bill without facing a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. One rule is that all provisions must be primarily fiscal in nature, and many expect that the AI provision will fail that test.
A debt ceiling hike, the end of IRS Direct file, money for a border wall, and more
Avoiding default: Republicans would raise the debt limit by $4 trillion, staving off a potential default that could come later this summer. One way or another, Congress will have to address the debt issue soon. The federal government is expected to exhaust its borrowing ability sometime in August.
Billions for missile defense: Trump wants the US to have a futuristic missile defense system inspired by Israel's vaunted "Iron Dome" air defenses, but the US shield would include space-based components and focus on longer-range missile threats rather than the smaller weapons Israel faces. House Republicans have allocated roughly $25 billion for overall missile defense, most of which will go to the "Golden Dome" project.
700 more miles of Trump's border wall: Republicans proposed spending roughly $47 billion on border barriers, which will cover 701 miles of "primary wall," 900 miles of river barriers, and 629 miles of secondary barriers. Trump repeatedly fought in his first term to build a massive border wall between the US and Mexico but struggled to get funding through Congress.
A big tax increase on large university endowments: Republicans would significantly increase Trump's 2017 groundbreaking tax on colleges and universities with large endowments. Under the bill, the tax rate would be tied to the size of their endowment, adjusted by student enrollment.At the low end, the rate would remain at 1.4%. At the highest level, universities would pay 21% tax if they have an endowment of $2 million or more per student.
"Just another reason why stock trading by members of Congress or their spouses should be banned," Rep. Mike Lawler of New York wrote.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was called out by a fellow Republican for recent stock trades.
He said those trades were "just another reason why" lawmakers should be banned from trading stocks.
Greene has attracted scrutiny for well-timed trades made around Trump's tariff moves.
First, it was Democrats who made a big deal out of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's stock trading habits. Now, a fellow Republican is joining in.
"Just another reason why stock trading by members of Congress or their spouses should be banned," Rep. Mike Lawler of New York wrote on X in response to a post showing that one of the Georgia congresswoman's recent stock purchases had paid off.
Lawler, who does not own any individual stocks, is a co-sponsor of the TRUST in Congress Act, a bill to require lawmakers and their spouses to divest from stocks or place them in a blind trust.
Just another reason why stock trading by members of Congress or their spouses should be banned.
Greene has attracted scrutiny in recent weeks for a series of well-timed trades she made around President Donald Trump's tariff moves in early April.
When stock prices began to fall after the April 2 "Liberation Day" announcement, Greene began investing tens of thousands of dollars into a variety of stocks, continuing to do so right up until stock prices shot back up after Trump announced that most of those tariffs would be paused for 90 days.
The congresswoman has said that her stock portfolio is managed by an outside financial advisor.
"All of my investments are reported with full transparency. I refuse to hide my stock trades in a blind trust like many others do," the congressman said in a statement previously shared with BI. "Since my portfolio manager makes my trades for me, I usually find out about them when the media asks."
But Democrats have suggested that Greene, a close Trump ally, may have been aware of Trump's tariff moves ahead of time. The congresswoman has denied that.
Lawler's post came on the heels of a feud between the two lawmakers that began on Wednesday, when Greene denounced the New York congressman for opposing Republicans' "Big Beautiful Bill" over a tax provision.
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