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Trump Will ‘Take a Look’ at Deporting Musk

Bloomberg reports Trump Says He’ll Have to ‘Take a Look’ at Deporting Musk

President Donald Trump said he would look into deporting billionaire Elon Musk in response to a question about the ally-turned-critic of his signature tax and spending legislation.

“I don’t know,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday when asked if he would deport the South African-born entrepreneur and US citizen, before adding that “we’ll have to take a look.”

The president’s comments are the latest salvo in a renewed feud between Trump and the world’s richest person, who has ramped up his criticism of a Republican tax bill that expedites the end of a consumer credit for electric vehicle purchases.

The president said Musk was “losing his EV mandate” and added that “Elon could lose a lot more than that.”

Musk has lambasted the Republican legislation, calling it an “insane spending bill” and threatened to help create a third political party in the US. He has denied, however, that his opposition is based on preserving government subsidies for his companies.

The two had a public falling out over Musk’s criticisms of the tax bill, trading insults on social media. While that fight appeared to have cooled, Musk in recent days has posted repeated attacks on the legislation, reigniting their fight.

“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” Trump said about the federal cost-cutting effort. “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible?”

Trump escalates feud with Musk, threatens Tesla, SpaceX support

Reuters reports Trump escalates feud with Musk, threatens Tesla, SpaceX support

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Elon Musk’s companies receive from the federal government, in an escalation of the war of words between the president and the world’s richest man, one-time allies who have since fallen out.

The feud reignited on Monday when Musk, who spent hundreds of millions on Trump’s re-election, renewed his criticism of Trump’s tax-cut and spending bill, which would eliminate subsidies for electric vehicle purchases that have benefited Tesla, the leading U.S. EV maker. That bill passed the Senate by a narrow margin midday Tuesday.

Though Musk has often said government subsidies should be eliminated, Tesla has historically benefited from billions of dollars in tax credits and other policy benefits because of its business in clean transportation and renewable energy. The Trump administration has control over many of those programs, some of which are targeted in the tax bill, including a $7,500 consumer tax credit that has made buying or leasing EVs more attractive for consumers.

Musk spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aimed at cutting government spending, before he pulled back his involvement in late May. Trump on Truth Social on Tuesday suggested Musk might receive more subsidies “than any human being in history, by far,” adding: “No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE.”

In response to Trump’s threats, Musk said on his own social media platform X, “I am literally saying CUT IT ALL. Now.” He later added that he could escalate the exchange with Trump but said, “I will refrain for now.”

What Happened?

Musk thought he could be some sort of hero with DOGE, but never accomplished anything.

Not a single new idea came out of the process but there was a lot of bragging over nonsense caused by COBOL date errors making it appear people over the age of 120 were collecting Social Security.

Trump got what he wanted out of the relationship, nonsensical hype. Musk was hoping Trump would keep the energy credit and failed.

Trump is not going to deport Musk, or even seriously look into the idea. But trump might easily make Musk pay a price in other ways with Tesla or SpaceX.

The DOGE Buyouts

The Hill asks Is DOGE’s machete approach to the federal workforce doing more harm than good?

DOGE is looking to shrink the federal government and budget. That means shrinking the federal workforce, which stands at around 3 million people. By comparison, the largest private-sector employers in the United States are Walmart (1.6 million) and Amazon (1.1 million).

The 75,000 or more who have accepted the buyout offer represent around 2 percent of the federal workforce.

One concern raised is that the people accepting the buyout may be critical contributors, with domain-specific knowledge lost that could take years to recoup. This is true any time senior employees leave an organization. When a generous buyout is offered, low-performing and less skilled people often do not take it because the stable job is a priority for them. Those the organization wishes to retain for their high-skill levels and performance are more likely to jump at the offer, since they have more options outside government. When they are offered a seven-month severance package, it’s an easy decision.

Among the 2 million people eligible for the buyout, natural attrition (retirement and people moving to the private sector) would likely yield at least 100,000 people per year leaving the federal workforce. The buyout is designed to accelerate this, though the seven-month severance package does nothing to yield any real savings

DOGE is Careless in Operation and Reckless in Reporting

I discussed the COBOL date issue in DOGE is Careless in Operation and Reckless in Reporting

Let’s discuss viral nonsense on alleged Social Security fraud and a simple explanation.

Musk thought he could come up with $2 trillion in cuts, then $1 trillion in cuts.

MuskWatch reports DOGE claims at $165 billion of which only $69.3 billion is itemized.

And of the itemized cuts only $16.3 billion is verified. Most of that is one-time. Well, it’s at least something, perhaps.

Most of what DOGE found, anyone could have found.

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