Musk Attacks Trump

President Donald Trump sidestepped a direct response Wednesday when asked about Elon Musk’s criticism of the sweeping legislation dubbed the “big, beautiful bill,” which was passed by the House last week and includes many of Trump’s top policy priorities. Musk, who has been leading cost-cutting initiatives through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), expressed disappointment in the bill during a preview of an upcoming “CBS Sunday Morning” interview, saying it undermines the efforts his team has been working on.

When asked in the Oval Office for his thoughts on Musk’s remarks, Trump avoided addressing the criticism directly. Instead, he shifted focus to the political strategy behind getting the bill through Congress. “Well, our reaction’s a lot of things,” he said, before emphasizing the importance of securing enough votes to pass the legislation. “Number one, we have to get a lot of votes, we can’t be cutting we need to get a lot of support and we have a lot of support. We had to get it through the House, the House was, we had no Democrats. You know, if it was up to the Democrats, they’ll take the 65 percent increase.”

The bill, which raises the federal debt ceiling by $4 trillion, cleared the House after a tense series of negotiations and now awaits action in the Senate. It contains several cornerstone elements of Trump’s agenda, including a permanent extension of his 2017 tax cuts, increased funding for border security and deportation programs, new work requirements for Medicaid recipients, and a rollback of green energy tax incentives passed under the Biden administration.

Trump acknowledged that not everything in the bill aligns perfectly with his goals. “We will be negotiating that bill, and I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” he said. He defended the overall package by pointing to the policy victories it includes. “That’s the way it goes. It’s very big, it’s the big, beautiful, but the beautiful is because of all the things that we have.”

Despite Musk’s disappointment and growing debate within Republican circles over the bill’s price tag and scope, Trump continues to tout the legislation as a major step forward. However, his reluctance to confront Musk’s criticism directly is already fueling speculation about a rift between two high-profile figures who had previously shared common ground on regulatory and efficiency reforms.