Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and once a trusted ally and “favorite” of U.S. President Donald Trump, is currently receiving massive business subsidies from the American government. However, Trump has now issued a warning, stating that if these subsidies are withdrawn, Musk may be forced to shut down his U.S. operations and return to South Africa.On Tuesday, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, saying, “Elon has received more government subsidies than anyone in U.S. history. If he hadn’t received them, he would probably have had to shut down his businesses and move back to South Africa by now.”“No more rocket launches, satellites, or electric vehicle production — and our country could save a huge amount of money. Maybe our OMB (Office of Management and Budget — once headed by Musk) should look into this more closely? We need to save a lot of money!!!” he added.This comes after Elon Musk—CEO of electric vehicle company Tesla, space exploration firm SpaceX, and social media platform X—sharply criticized Trump’s proposed federal spending plan.In a post on X on Tuesday, Musk warned that the proposed bill would push the country toward uncontrollable debt. “We are living in a one-party state. It’s time to form a new political party that truly represents the people,” Musk wrote.He even proposed a name for the new party: “The Porky Pig Party.”The bill Musk referred to includes a proposal to raise the U.S. federal debt ceiling by $5 trillion. Musk has described this plan as “insanity-level spending.” He has long criticized both major political parties for being fiscally irresponsible when it comes to budgeting and national debt.In response to Musk’s post on X, Trump quickly fired back with a post of his own on Truth Social.Notably, this isn’t the first time Musk has clashed with Trump over such issues. In fact, due to disagreements over this very bill, Musk was forced to resign from the Trump administration back in May.
