Elon Musk has strongly criticised Donald Trump’s showpiece tax bill, claiming it “undermines” the work done by his government cost-cutting team, in comments that are likely to widen the rift between the billionaire and the president he bankrolled last year.
In a preview of an interview with CBS Sunday Morning released late on Tuesday, the Tesla chief executive, who until recently led the Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, said he was “disappointed to see the massive spending bill, which increases the budget deficit . . . and undermines the work that the Doge team is doing”.
The US House of Representatives last week passed the bill by a single vote, paving the way for the first big legislative success of Trump’s second term. It will now be put to a vote in the Senate.