US President Donald Trump has reignited his long-running feud with tech billionaire Elon Musk, threatening to review the Tesla and SpaceX boss’s citizenship status and suggesting he could be deported to his native South Africa.
Speaking to reporters on Monday morning, Trump said his administration may “take a look” at Musk’s immigration history following the billionaire’s renewed criticism of the president’s tax-and-spending bill, which is currently under debate in the Senate.
“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” Trump said, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency, a White House unit Musk briefly headed earlier this year. “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies.”
Trump’s remarks followed a series of posts by Musk on his platform X, in which the world’s richest man condemned what he described as reckless spending by the Trump administration. Musk warned he would actively back primary challengers against Republicans who support the bill, which he claims could raise the national debt by over \$3 trillion in the next decade.
In a post on Truth Social shortly after midnight, Trump accused Musk of hypocrisy, writing: “Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far… No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a fortune.”
Musk responded half an hour later: “I am literally saying cut it all Now.”
The spat comes just weeks after Musk appeared to attempt a rapprochement with Trump, offering a private apology following his departure from DOGE in May. Their alliance was initially seen as a cornerstone of Trump’s effort to bring high-profile entrepreneurs into government.
Trump has accused Musk of opposing the tax bill only because it ends subsidies introduced under former President Joe Biden, including a consumer credit for electric vehicle buyers. On his first day back in office, Trump reversed Biden’s emissions mandate for new vehicles, calling it a “ridiculous EV mandate”
“Elon is very upset that the EV mandate is going to be terminated,” Trump said. “Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one.”
Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Musk became a naturalised US citizen in 2002 after initially entering the country on a student visa and obtaining a work permit. Legal experts say deportation of a naturalised citizen would be legally difficult without evidence of fraud during the naturalisation process.
In a separate post on Sunday, Musk accused both major parties of reckless governance and called for the creation of a new political movement. “Time for a new political party that cares about the people,” he wrote, referring to Congress as the Porky pig party.
Trump has previously threatened to end all government contracts and subsidies to Musk’s companies. According to US media reports, Musk’s ventures including Tesla, SpaceX and solar energy firm SolarCity have received more than \$38 billion in government contracts, grants and tax incentives.
