Donald Trump—and it only took a pork-stuffed spending bill to do it.
In a fiery June 3 post on X, Musk didn’t hold back: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
The post quickly racked up over 17 million views, 169,000 likes, and a lot of speculation about what this means for the bromance that once defined Trump’s second-term tech alliance.
“Shame on those who voted for it”
Musk’s final straw was seemingly Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” a massive $1.2 trillion omnibus spending package that ed with bipartisan and was signed into law just days before Musk’s post.
Trump—never one to downplay branding—called it “the most beautiful, America First budget in history.” It includes significant increases in defense spending, sweeping subsidies for energy and agriculture (including fossil fuels), and generous earmarks that reek of the exact “swamp” behavior Trump once vowed to drain.
Critics have pounced on the bill as a pork-barrel feast, as has Musk, who has increasingly positioned himself as a champion of fiscal restraint and government efficiency (despite benefiting from massive government subsidies in the past).
The tumultuous Trump-Musk love story
To understand this breakup, we need to rewind a bit. Musk has long had a complicated relationship with Trump. During Trump’s first term, Musk was a member of two of the istration’s advisory councils—until he quit over Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.
But by the time 2024 rolled around, and Trump was charging toward a comeback, the two had seemingly buried the hatchet. Musk, disillusioned with the Biden istration and increasingly vocal about “woke mind virus” politics, found himself aligned with many in Trump’s orbit.
Musk’s platform gave Trump-friendly talking points algorithmic amplification, and his growing anti-establishment posture earned him points with conservative influencers and media outlets. His willingness to embrace controversial figures and policies turned X into a culture war battleground—and one that often favored the right.
Meanwhile, Musk’s tenure as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was as tumultuous as it was headline-grabbing. Appointed by Trump in January 2025, Musk took on the unpaid role with a mission to slash government waste, promising to save taxpayers trillions.
His aggressive approach led to mass layoffs, agency closures, and a claimed $175 billion in savings—a figure met with skepticism due to potential offsets from legal costs and reduced revenues.
Potential tech-bro blowback
This public rebuke isn’t just about a spending bill—it’s about Musk realizing that his proximity to power has limits. The tech elite, many of whom once treated Trump’s second term as a necessary evil or even a market opportunity, are now watching in horror as the istration swells the deficit and rewards special interests.
His break with Trump may be performative (as many of his meltdowns are), or it could signal a bigger realignment. But one thing’s clear: if Trump thought tech billionaires were going to roll over and keep boosting his signal, Musk just sent a loud and expensive wake-up call.
Published: Jun 3, 2025 03:20 pm