Donald Trump jabs Elon Musk after his ‘America Party’ threat: 'Have to head back home to South Africa'

The feud between US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk escalated Tuesday, as the Senate slogged through a marathon voting session on Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending bill.

In a fiery post on Truth Social, Trump accused Musk of relying on government subsidies to keep his companies afloat, saying that without taxpayer support, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO would “probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.”

“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Trump wrote. “No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE.”

The post came after Musk threatened to launch a new political party if Congress passed what he called an “insane spending bill.”

In a post on X, the social media platform he owns, Musk said, “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”

Musk later posted, “VOX POPULI VOX DEI. 80% voted for a new party,” referring to an earlier online poll asking followers whether it was time to create a new political party.

The clash between Trump and Musk, who once served as a White House adviser, has intensified in recent weeks over the president’s multitrillion-dollar bill. The measure would lower federal taxes, increase spending for the Pentagon and border security, and cut funding for Medicaid and other safety-net programs.

Senators worked late into Monday night and into Tuesday morning as Republican leaders scrambled to shore up support.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said Republicans were “figuring out how to get to the end game.”

Democrats have decried the proposed cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, staging a weekend delay that forced Senate clerks to read the entire bill aloud.

Trump has demanded Congress deliver the measure by the Fourth of July, but it would still need House approval if it clears the Senate. Speaker Mike Johnson is facing growing opposition among House Republicans, leaving the bill’s fate uncertain.

Musk, who spent more than $275 million supporting Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election, has called the bill “debt slavery.”

The Congressional Budget Office said the Senate package would add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, nearly a trillion more than the House version.

The Tesla CEO has said his opposition is not about the loss of electric vehicle and solar subsidies in the bill, but has criticised it for supporting “industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”

The public feud spilled over last month after Musk called the legislation a “disgusting abomination.”

Trump responded by publicly criticising Musk for the first time during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, saying he was “very disappointed” in him. Musk fired back that without his support, Trump would have lost Pennsylvania in 2024 and Republicans would have a slimmer majority in the Senate.

The exchange intensified when Trump suggested cutting Tesla’s subsidies and contracts, saying it would save the government “Billions and Billions of Dollars.”

“Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Musk then levelled an explosive allegation, claiming in a now-deleted X post that Trump was “in the Epstein files,” referring to the documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network.

Musk later expressed regret, posting that his comments about Trump “went too far.”