US President Donald Trump has sidelined criticism from his well-known source, government adviser Elon Musk, of his extensive budget bill (known as one big beautiful bill).
At an oath ceremony at the oval office on Wednesday, Trump faced questions about Musk’s comments, suggesting that the bill would inflate citizen debt.
Republican leaders responded with some degree of ambiguity, but stubbornly defended the bill’s tax cuts.
“We’re going to negotiate that bill, and I’m not happy with any particular aspect of it, but I’m excited about the other aspects of it,” Trump said. “That’s how they get there.”
The budget bill reaches over 1,000 pages and includes the range of domestic policy priorities of the Trump administration.
This includes laws that solidify some of the tax cuts Trump defended during his first term as president in 2017. It also increased funding available to Trump’s “massive deportation” efforts, increasing security along the US Mexican border.
For example, approximately $46.5 billion will be allocated to renew the construction of southern border walls and other barriers. This is another feature of Trump’s first term.
However, to pay for these tax cuts and policy priorities, the bill proposes controversial measures on both sides of the political spectrum.
For example, one provision would increase the federal debt limit by $4 trillion. Others place strict work requirements on programs such as Medicaid, the government’s health insurance for low-income Americans, and the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), sometimes known as Food Stamps.
These work requirements are expected to allow thousands of people to access these safety net programs and reduce costs. However, critics fear that these barriers will drive some families deeply into poverty.
In a preview of an interview with TV show CBS Sunday morning, Musk expressed his dissatisfaction with the bill’s immense costs, reflecting criticism from fiscal conservatives.
He also denounced the “big beautiful bill” that brought Trump back his progress as leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force established to curb “wasteful” spending.
“Frankly, I was disappointed when I saw a massive spending bill, I increased my budget deficit, reduced it, and undermined the work the Doge team is doing,” Musk wore CBS an “Occupy Mars” t-shirt.
“I think the bill will grow, and that’s beautiful,” he added. “I don’t know if it’s both. My personal opinion.”
This is not the first time Musk has opposed the US budget bill. In December, under former President Joe Biden, Musk garnered public outrage over another budget law that called on Congress to “kill the bill.”
But Musk’s latest comments show potentially expanding fractures between himself and the Trump White House.
Until recently, the billionaire Musk was considered the richest person in the world, but has played a prominent role in Trump’s government. He helped secure a second term as president.
In 2024, Musk supported Trump’s reelection efforts, joined the campaign trajectory, donating hundreds of millions of dollars to Republican leaders and his political allies.
On his side, Trump returned a warm embrace of the mask. A few days after winning his second term as president, Trump announced that Musk would join his incoming administration as head of the Doge.
However, Musk’s role in the White House is ambiguous and highly controversial. Musk is a regular presence at the Presidential Ministerial Meeting, but he did not need to be confirmed by the Senate.
The White House describes him as a “special government employee” and a temporary role as a consultant in the business field. Typically, these employees can only work with the government for 130 days a year and are prohibited from using the government’s role for financial interest.
However, critics argue that Musk’s length of tenure in the White House is not clearly established and that he actually uses his position for personal gain. For example, in March, Trump held a press conference to show off his model from Tesla, a car company that features masks.
Other business ventures from Musk, including Rocket Company SpaceX and satellite telecommunications company Starlink, also raised conflict of interest questions, considering they are competitors of government contracts.
Media reports show that there was a behind-the-scenes clash between the president and other members of the Trump White House who may have cooled down his relationship with his billionaire supporters. But Trump has so far avoided publicly criticizing Musk.
On Wednesday, Trump pivoted from questions about Musk’s comments on attacking Congressional Democrats who refused to support his signature budget bill.
“Remember, we have zero Democrat votes because they are bad people,” Trump said. “There’s something wrong with them.”
The budget bill version passed the House of Representatives slightly last week. Now it is being considered by the Senate. But with a 100-person Chamber of Commerce, there is a 53-seater majority, so Senate Republicans can afford to lose three votes if they want to pass the bill.
Trump updated his party’s call for unity on Wednesday despite concerns from his fellow Republicans.
“We have to get a lot of votes,” Trump said. “We need to get a lot of support, there’s a lot of support.”
Some Republicans are opposed to an increase in national debt. Others fear the impact that Medicaid restrictions will have on their members.
Trump himself says he is against Medicaid cuts. But he tried to frame the bill’s tax cuts as a boon for low-income people, but critics point out that those cuts are poised to bring maximum savings to the wealthy.
“We have the lowest tax rate we’ve ever had in our country’s history,” Trump said. “There is a huge profit for middle-income people in our country, low-income and middle-income people in our country.”
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