Predictions that the so-called “bromance” between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who spent more than a quarter billion dollars to help elect the President, would come to an uncomfortable end were easy to find among those who contend that there is space for only one alpha in the room at a time — especially when that room is the Oval Office.
But Musk’s “180” turn — as House Speaker Mike Johnson called it — on Trump’s signature “big, beautiful bill” has roiled MAGA solidarity with surprising speed.
“I don’t know what happened in 24 hours,” Johnson said when asked about Musk’s change from being all-in on everything Trump to proclaiming the big bill a “disgusting abomination.”
Johnson shrugged off Musk’s criticism as something that might be filed with other “disagreements” and “policy differences” they’ve had, all previously resolved, Johnson asserted, through a sense of common mission and bonhomie. “We don’t take it personal,” the Speaker contended.
Johnson: I think Musk is flat wrong… am I concerned about the midterms? I’m not. When the big beautiful bill is law, every single American is going to do better. This bill is geared for middle and working class Americans and they are going to feel the effects of it. pic.twitter.com/ChsG75WGPe
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 4, 2025
Johnson therefore proceeded to proclaim that Musk is “flat wrong” in his denigrating assessment of the bill, the benefits of which Johnson said he had carefully extolled to the billionaire and ex-DOGE chief — and which the Speaker believed Musk understood and agreed with.
Below, Johnson says “My friend Elon is terribly wrong” about the bill. But there is little disagreement among those who have seen the bill that it raises the debt ceiling and increases spending, while giving tax cuts that make that spending increase a challenge to pay for. From the Congressional Budget Office to MAGA populist Steve Bannon, the increased spending is understood to be baked into the bill.
1:30 Johnson brings up EV mandates pic.twitter.com/5p9Wy1MEO8
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 4, 2025
Musk has said the bill virtually undoes the budget accomplishments he professes to have initiated during his tenure with DOGE.
There is also speculation, fueled and then walked back by Johnson, that Musk dislikes some of the provisions in the bill affecting EVs, the business sector that — as CEO of Tesla — is responsible for creating the bulk of Musk’s fortune. The bill contains provisions to pull back on major incentive programs benefitting EV sales and cuts off significant EV charging station investment.
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