US President Donald Trump says he was “very surprised” and “disappointed” with former ally Elon Musk’s criticisms of his centrepiece budget bill.

“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump told reporters in the White House on Thursday.

It was the president’s most direct criticism of Musk’s lobbying efforts against the proposals to cut taxes and slash government spending – a plan that has drawn outrage from the tycoon and some Republicans. And it set off an online war of words between the two men.

In response, Musk doubled down on X and accused the president of “ingratitude”, adding: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election”.

Musk left his post at the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) last week after 129 days on the job, and Trump presented him with a golden key during a congratulatory news conference on 30 May.

But in the days since, he has repeatedly criticised Trump’s budget bill currently working its way through Congress, calling it a “disgusting abomination” and posting: “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong.”

He encouraged his followers to phone their representatives to express opposition to the spending plan.

The bill passed the US House with the backing of most Republicans, with a handful of representatives from Trump’s party and all Democrats opposed. It still needs approval of the Senate and a merging of the two versions before it can be signed by Trump and become law.

Speaking to reporters during a news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, Trump said: “We are doing things in that bill that are unbelievable.

“I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here. All of a sudden he had a problem.”

Trump suggested that Musk was upset about the removal of subsidies and mandates for electric vehicles, which could affect his Tesla business.

Musk denied this was the case and wrote: “Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.”

“Pork” is a term used in US politics to describe wasteful government spending, particularly on things meant to curry favour with particular groups or local areas.

Musk endorsed Trump last July after the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, and the Tesla boss reportedly funnelled $250m into getting him back into the White House.

In a flurry of posts on X after Thursday’s news conference, Musk denied that he had seen a copy of the budget bill and reposted old tweets from Trump where the president promoted a balanced budget.

Musk also took credit for the sweeping Republican victory in November’s election, writing: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”

“Such ingratitude,” he added.

Musk went on to post a poll asking his followers “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?”

He also suggested without evidence in a new post on X that Trump appears in unreleased files held by the government related to late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Last year, court documents released by a judge named numerous public figures connected to Epstein. Trump was named in one document. Being named in the documents does not carry any inference of wrongdoing, and there were no allegations made against Trump.

While running for the White House, Trump had promised to release more files on Epstein. In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi released newly declassified files which contained no major new allegations about Epstein nor revelations about his associates.

Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking and died by suicide while awaiting trial. Trump was president at the time. He said he knew Epstein “like everybody in Palm Beach knew him” but had a “falling out with him a long time ago”.

The BBC has contacted the White House and the FBI for comment.

Trump responded by writing on his Truth Social network later on Thursday that Musk “just went CRAZY” and went on to post: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”

Musk’s companies including Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink have direct contacts with the US government and like many other businesses also benefit from subsidies and tax breaks.

Telsa stock dropped by 14% within hours of the row bursting out into public on Thursday.

According to the most recent analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the budget bill will increase the US national debt by $2.4 trillion over 10 years and leave nearly 11 million people without government-backed health insurance.

The White House disputes those figures, saying they don’t account for revenues brought in by increased tariffs.

Put in charge of radically slashing government spending, Musk initiated mass sackings and wholesale elimination of departments such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Doge claims to have saved $180bn, although that number has been disputed, and is well short of Musk’s initial aim to cut spending by up to $2tn.

(BBC)