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During an Oval Office press availability with Germany’s newly installed chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Donald Trump frequently ignored his guest and spent a considerable amount of time lashing at at Elon Musk.

With Musk leaving his spot advising the president and almost immediately criticizing the budget bill that tailored to Trump's expectations, Trump in a rambling tirade littered with digressions and non-sequiturs, claimed he was "disappointed" with the billionaire.

He then noted that multiple advisers and aides who previously left his employ had also turned "hostile" once they departed.

"I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people," Trump told the assembled reporters. "He knew everything about it, he had no problem with it [and] 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 EV mandate, because that's billions and billions of dollars, and it really is unfair."

After moving on to talking about cars, he turned back to Musk and complained, "He [Musk] became a little bit different and I can understand that. But he knew every aspect of this bill, he knew it better than almost anybody, and he never had a problem until right after he left. And if you saw the statements he made about me, which I'm sure you can get very easily, it's very fresh on tape, he said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn't said bad about me personally, but I'm sure that will be next. But I'm very disappointed in Elon, I've helped Elon a lot."

"He's not the first; people leave my administration, and they love us. And then at some point, they miss it so badly," he later stated. "And some of them embrace it and some of them actually become hostile. I don't know what it is; it's sort of Trump Derangement Syndrome, I guess they call it."

"But we have it with others too," he claimed. "They leave and they wake up in the morning and the glamor is gone. The whole world is different and they become hostile."

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According to longtime Beltway reporter David Drucker, failure is not an option for the Republican party as they attempt to create a budget bill that can make it to Donald Trump's desk.

During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the Dispatch reporter said that MAGA voters would not be forgiving if the president's "big beautiful" as it is now written falters, forcing GOP lawmakers to start over.

Speaking with co-host Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, Drucker acknowledged that influential billionaire Elon Musk is demanding conservatives "kill the bill," but that Republicans may not have any choice to push it through.

Asked by host Scarborough if there are 4 or 5 GOP lawmakers "left in the the House that say no derail the bill," Drucker reported that would be tantamount to "saying no to President Donald Trump and their voters trust Trump more than they trust them."

"So as long as Trump wants this bill, this bill is likely to pass one way or the other," he continued. "Now, I've talked to Republican strategists about this, and this is the point I want to make: is that Republicans with their, you know, thin majorities in the House and Senate really aren't doing much else.

"Every ounce of energy they have, most of the legislation that they might pass is all rolled up into this reconciliation package," he elaborated. "That includes a lot of the tax cuts for middle and lower-class voters that the president campaigned on. It also includes a lot of the border security components that are broadly popular that he campaigned on, and so if this thing collapses, the entire Trump agenda collapses –– that which he can't do by executive order –– and the entire congressional Republican agenda collapses."

"They risk going to the voters empty-handed next year and that's a recipe for disaster," he pointed out.

"One other thing here, Republicans have told me that if they were to start from scratch and do this in a way that wasn't going to add to the debt, that would require actual normal legislating, and they'd have to negotiate with Democrats, at least in the Senate, where Democrats can filibuster," he predicted. "And the Republican base would look at that as a complete failure and be really, really upset that they weren't just plowing this stuff through."

"So there are a lot of political considerations that are, not surprisingly, are looming larger in the minds of these Republicans than the fiscal considerations, because no voter finally here, no voters are beating on their door complaining about the debt –– they're just not," he added.

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A visibly exasperated Sen. John Kennedy (R) was of two minds about the budget bill the GOP-controlled House has handed to the Senate to consider, agreeing with Elon Musk on its deficiencies then claiming it still needs to be passed.

Speaking with the co-hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the Louisiana Republican claimed Republicans may have no choice but to move forward with passing the bill because Donald Trump's tariff war has created economic instability.

According to Kennedy, "I've said and will continue to say because I believe it, that I'm for cutting spending, um, unproductive spending, until we run out of votes. But we can't do everything that everyone wants, and some people are just going to have to accept a ham and egg sandwich without the ham."

"We have some members of the Senate that will not get all the spending reductions they want," he added.

Addressing co-host Joe Scarborough, he continued, "Here's what's driving this, Joe, and this is ultimately why I think the bill will pass. We're in uncharted waters with the tariffs. I think the markets are telling us that we don't know what impact they're going to have on the economy, but if we don't extend those tax cuts, we're going into a recession and our economy is going to be on a journey to the center of the earth and, ultimately, I think that's why the bill will pass."

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