Why Elon Musk is not happy with Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill'

Donald Trump's showpiece tax bill, dubbed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill', aims to expand the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but Musk says it will hurt cost-cutting efforts

Billionaire Elon Musk has publicly criticised US President Donald Trump’s showpiece tax bill, the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’, arguing that it will hurt government cost-cutting efforts and drive up the budget deficit. Musk’s remarks mark his strongest criticism of Trump yet and come despite his past financial support for the former president.

 

In an interview with CBS, Musk said he was “disappointed” by the bill, which he warned would undo the savings achieved by the government’s cost-cutting team, known as the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). Musk had led Doge until recently.

 

Trump’s showpiece tax bill explained

 

The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is designed to expand and extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Key measures include:

 

 

Making existing tax cuts permanent

 

Eliminating federal income taxes on tips and overtime pay

 

Increasing the standard deduction

 

Raising the child tax credit to $2,500 per child

 

Introducing a new $4,000 deduction for seniors earning under $75,000 (or $150,000 for couples)

 

Boosting the small business tax break from 20 per cent to 23 per cent

 

Tightening work requirements for Medicaid and food stamp recipients

 

Supporters argue that these changes will stimulate economic growth. However, critics, including Musk, fear the bill could add over $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, according to a Financial Times report.

 

Musk’s concerns: ‘A bill can’t be both big and beautiful’

 

Musk, who has frequently warned that high deficits could push the country toward “bankruptcy", questioned the bill’s design and priorities. “I think a bill can be big, or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both,” he said.

 

The bill has cleared the House of Representatives but faces resistance in the Senate, including from some Republicans. Prominent voices like Musk’s are adding to that opposition, warning it could undermine efforts to rein in government spending.

 

Rift between Musk and Trump?

 

This is Musk’s strongest public criticism of Trump so far. In the past, he has also clashed with members of Trump’s team, even calling the White House’s trade advisor “dumber than a sack of bricks".

 

Musk, who donated nearly $300 million to Trump and other Republicans in the last election, now says he plans to give “a lot less” to political campaigns going forward. He also noted that Doge’s cost-saving work — which claimed to have saved $175 billion so far — had faced challenges from lawmakers. The original target was $2 trillion.

 

Last month, Musk stepped down from Doge, citing a need to focus more on his businesses, including Tesla and SpaceX.