Elon Musk continued his social media spat with Donald Trump on Thursday, June 5, digging up the president’s old tweets to use his own words against him.
Musk, who is angry over the price tag of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” reposted one 2013 tweet in which Trump criticized Republicans for “extending the debt ceiling,” adding: “Wise words.”
Minutes after resurfacing Trump’s old posts, the president broke his silence on how he feels about Musk’s behavior.
Elon Musk’s feud with President Donald Trump escalated on Thursday, June 5, as the pair continued to trade passive-aggressive barbs.
Following days of criticism about Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” — which began almost immediately after he departed his White House position on May 30 — Musk went back into the Twitter archives to use Trump’s own words against him.
In a post from January 2013, the start of President Barack Obama’s second term, Trump tweeted, “I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling—I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!”
Musk, 53, reposted it on his social media platform, now renamed X, and added the commentary, “Wise words.”
The Tesla CEO also reshared a July 2012 Trump tweet that read, “No member of Congress should be eligible for re-election if our country’s budget is not balanced—deficits not allowed!”
“I couldn’t agree more!” Musk added on X.
“Where is the man who wrote these words?” Musk wondered in a subsequent post. “Was he replaced by a body double!?”
Since departing his special government role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency on May 30, Musk has continued to criticize Trump’s cornerstone spending bill as a deficit-fueling behemoth that counteracts any money he and DOGE were able to save the government.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” he wrote on June 3. “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.”
Trump praised Musk’s DOGE work and even presented him with the “Key to the White House” during their final joint press conference. However, it seems the tech billionaire’s criticism finally started to get under his skin.
During an Oval Office press conference on June 5 — minutes after Musk reposted Trump’s old tweets — the president finally broke his silence on Musk’s behavior, saying he was “disappointed” by all the recent social media attacks.
“Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anyone sitting here,” the president claimed. “He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the [electric vehicle] mandate, because that’s billions and billions of dollars.”
“Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump added, noting the past tense. “I don’t know if we will anymore.”
Moments after the president said that he expected the attacks to get more personal as Congress gets closer to passing the spending bill, Musk posted on X that “Trump would have lost the election” and handed the House to Democrats in November 2024 if it weren’t for his support.
