Trump attacks Musk subsidies in spending bill row

Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 06 July 2025
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Trump attacks Musk subsidies in spending bill row

  • As lawmakers began voting on Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill", Musk accused Republicans of supporting "debt slavery"
  • President Trump responded by saying “without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa” on social media

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump once again targeted former aide Elon Musk on Tuesday, attacking the amount of government subsidies the entrepreneur is receiving, after the tech billionaire renewed criticism of the president’s flagship spending bill.

“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far,” Trump said on social media.

“And without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.”

Musk — who had an acrimonious public falling out with the president this month over the bill — reprised his sharp criticisms and renewed his calls for the formation of a new political party as voting got underway.

Trump responded by suggesting his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-- which Musk headed before stepping down late May — train its sights on the SpaceX founder’s business interests.

“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE,” the president said. “Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!“

Trump is hoping to seal his legacy with the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which would extend his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.5 trillion and beef up border security.

But Republicans eyeing 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over the package, which would strip health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3 trillion to the country’s debt.

As lawmakers began voting on the bill on Monday, Musk — the world’s richest person — accused Republicans of supporting “debt slavery.”

“All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America,” he said on social media Tuesday. “What’s the point of a debt ceiling if we keep raising it?“

Musk has vowed to launch a new political party to challenge lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill.

“VOX POPULI VOX DEI 80 percent voted for a new party,” he said.


Passenger bus crash in Indonesia kills at least 16 people, official says

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Passenger bus crash in Indonesia kills at least 16 people, official says

  • A rescue official in Indonesia says a passenger bus crash has killed at least 16 people on Indonesia’s main island of Java
  • The official says a bus carrying 34 people lost control on a toll road just after midnight Monday and struck a concrete barrier before rolling onto its side
JAKARTA: A passenger bus crash killed at least 16 people on Indonesia’s main island of Java just after midnight Monday, officials said.
The bus carrying 34 people lost control on a toll road and struck a concrete barrier before rolling onto its side, said Budiono, a search and rescue agency chief who goes by single name like many Indonesians.
The inter-province bus was traveling from the capital Jakarta to the country’s ancient royal city of Yogyakarta when it overturned while entering a curved exit ramp at the Krapyak toll way in Central Java’s Semarang city, he said.
“The forceful impact threw several passengers and left them trapped against the bus body,” Budiono said.
Police and rescue teams arrived about 40 minutes after the accident and recovered the bodies of six passengers who died at the scene. Another 10 people died on the way to a hospital or while being treated, Budiono said.
The 18 victims being treated at two nearby hospitals included five people in critical condition and 13 in serious condition, he said.
Television news reports showed the yellow bus overturned on its side and surrounded by National Search and Rescue Agency personnel, police and passersby as ambulances transported victims and the dead away from the accident scene.
Witnesses told authorities the bus was traveling at high speed before the driver lost control, Central Java Police Chief Ribut Hari Wibowo said at Dr. Karyadi General Hospital in Semarang where the bodies were being identified.
The driver was a substitute who sustained serious injuries but was able to communicate while under medical care, he said.
“We are still investigating the cause of the crash and questioning the injured substitute driver,” Wibowo said, adding that police planned to test the driver for prohibited substances including drugs.