Trump says he’ll ‘take a look’ at deporting Elon Musk

The US president has also suggested getting DOGE to investigate the billionaire, noting that he has received a lot of subsidies

US President Donald Trump has said that he might entertain the idea of deporting Elon Musk and could consider getting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to look into the billionaire’s government contracts.

The president’s comments come amid a very public falling out between him and Musk, who was until recently one of Trump’s staunchest supporters. Last month, Musk stepped down as the head of DOGE after heavily criticizing Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill, which includes a $5 trillion debt ceiling increase.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump was asked if he would look at deporting Elon Musk – a naturalized US citizen – to his native South Africa, to which the president replied: “I don’t know, we’ll have to take a look.”

“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” the president added, noting that “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.” Trump further pointed out that Musk had been getting a “lot of subsidies.” 

“Elon’s very upset that the [Electrical Vehicle] mandate is going to be terminated,” Trump said, stating that “not everybody wants an electric car.”

Earlier, Trump also posted on his Truth Social platform that Musk “knew, long before he so strongly endorsed me for president, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate.” The president said that electric cars are “fine” but objected to having everyone forced to own one.

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Trump suggested in his post that without subsidies, Musk could end up having to “close up shop and head back home to South Africa.” This, according to Trump, could save the US “a fortune,” as Musk would no longer be engaged in any rocket launches, satellites, or electric car production.

”Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!” Trump wrote.

Meanwhile, Musk has continued to attack Trump’s budget bill, claiming that it undermines his work with DOGE to cut federal spending.

“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame,” Musk wrote on X on Tuesday. “They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” he warned.

Musk also reiterated calls to establish a new “America Party” to serve as an alternative to the “Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a voice.”