President Trump said Tuesday that DOGE could investigate Elon Musk, the latest indicator that his patience with the Tesla CEO is running thin.
The big picture: The two men have engaged in a war of words in the past 24 hours, with Musk taking to X to vent his objections to the president’s “big, beautiful bill” and the estimated trillions of dollars it would add to the national debt.
- Trump posted to Truth Social overnight that DOGE may need to take a “good, hard look” at Musk’s companies, and he doubled down on the notion when he spoke to reporters Tuesday.
- “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” he said before boarding Marine One.
Zoom out: When asked if he would consider deporting Musk, Trump said he didn’t know.
- “We’ll have to take a look,” he said.
Worth noting: Musk is a naturalized U.S. citizen. While the Justice Department has recently directed attorneys to prioritize denaturalization in cases where naturalized citizens commit crimes, Trump did not suggest that Musk had committed any crime.
The other side: Musk swiftly responded Tuesday morning, writing that while it is “[s]o tempting to escalate this,” he would “refrain for now.”
Friction point: The relationship between Trump and his former chainsaw-wielding DOGE head publicly unraveled last month, as Musk aired an avalanche of grievances over the president’s signature tax and spending bill.
Hellbound and Down 