Elon Musk backs impeachment call against Trump

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has thrown his support behind a public call for U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment, escalating an increasingly bitter clash between the two former allies.

The feud, which has spilled from political chambers onto social media, revolves around a contentious federal budget proposal and Musk’s accusations of a lack of appreciation from Trump.

On Thursday, right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong posted on X, Musk’s social media platform, advocating for Trump’s removal from office and proposing U.S. Senator JD Vance as a replacement.“President vs Elon. Who wins? My money’s on Elon. Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him,” Cheong wrote.Musk simply replied, “Yes,” about 20 minutes later.

This endorsement follows Musk’s strong criticism of what Trump dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — a comprehensive budget measure that includes extended tax breaks from the Trump era and a $46.5 billion provision for expanded barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk posted earlier this week on X. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

He warned that the legislation would exacerbate the nation’s financial troubles, claiming it would “massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”

Tensions between the tech executive and the president intensified after Trump criticized Musk’s opposition to the bill during a joint press briefing with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

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

Musk swiftly rejected that assertion, stating, “False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!”

He further suggested Trump owes him politically, 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.”

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO recently resigned from his advisory post within the Trump administration, citing sharp differences over spending and policy direction.