Elon Musk is seen with a bruised eye that Musk claimed he received at the hands of his son, X Æ A-12, as he attends a press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Tech billionaire Elon Musk went off on an X tangent, attacking President Donald Trump's 2026 budget, which he's referring to as a "big, beautiful bill." Musk said that the legislation still adds $2.4 trillion to the deficit, at a time when he sought to reduce it.
Musk claimed last year that he could cut $2 trillion from the federal budget to help reduce the deficit. Despite his best efforts, he was only able to cut $160 billion. Now he's blaming Trump and Republicans for making things worse.
Speaking about it on Wednesday, former Trump communications director, Alyssa Farah Griffin, told her co-hosts on "The View" that if Musk really cared, he "could tank Trump's entire agenda."
She pointed out that many political analysts had predicted a fallout would ultimately occur between Trump and Musk.
"What I'm most struck by — how is Elon Musk surprised that nobody, including Trump, cares about deficits?" Griffin asked. "Donald Trump ran on a lot of things. There were a lot of things he said he would do. He never said he would address the deficit. In fact, no one has actually tackled it since Bill Clinton about 30 years ago. It's not a priority to politicians."
She cited budgetary experts who have said, "you would have to cut entitlements and defense spending and drastically raise taxes, or some combination. These cuts were never actually going to do that, so it's just, kind of, rich he is playing surprise today."
Musk is a "huge" recipient of Pentagon contracts, Griffin added, with as much as $8 billion going to his various companies.
Co-host Sunny Hostin mentioned that those contracts weren't cut from Musk's efforts to reduce spending.
"But I'll say this," Griffin cut in. "This is where it gets interesting. Two things. Elon Musk basically could tank Donald Trump's entire legislative agenda. This big, beautiful bill, it has energy, border security, and it has extending his tax cuts in it. If Republicans decide, oh, we don't want to get on the wrong side of Elon, that's what Donald Trump is banking it all on. And that's kind of devastating for his administration. Those Republicans, on the flip side, if you're in a House district, you're like, I'm afraid of Donald Trump, the Elon Musk — because of the dark money system we live in — can come in and primary you by pouring millions into your race."
She cited his $20 million in the Wisconsin judicial race that he lost. All Musk would have to do is "peel off a handful of Republicans. The entire balance of power in the House of Representatives could stand on if Elon Musk follows through and primaries people."
See the clip below or at that link right here.