Trump threatens to deport Elon Musk to South Africa

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday hinted at the possibility of deporting billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk following the latter’s vocal criticism of his administration’s flagship spending bill.

Trump made the comments during an impromptu press briefing at the White House, stating that “nothing is off the table” in response to Musk’s recent remarks. The South African-born entrepreneur, who became a U.S. citizen in 2002, had publicly slammed the bill, calling it “reckless” and “a disaster for innovation.”

The president also took a swipe at Musk’s former role as head of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), saying that the department may begin a review of the substantial government subsidies received by Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX.

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“I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he would consider deporting Musk.

“We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”

Trump doubled down on the threat when he said he believed Musk was attacking his so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” because he was annoyed that it had dropped measures to support electric vehicles (EV).

“He’s losing his EV mandate. He’s very upset about things, but you know, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Elon can lose a lot more than that.”

Trump made similar comments on his Truth Social network late Monday, saying that “without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.”

Musk, the world’s richest person, was Trump’s biggest donor in the 2024 election and initially maintained a near constant presence at the newly elected president’s side.

They had an acrimonious public falling out this month over the bill and the tycoon has reprised his criticisms in recent days, accusing Republicans of abandoning efforts to place the United States at the front of the EV and clean energy revolution.

Musk has also renewed his calls for the formation of a new political party called the “America Party” if the bill passed.

(AFP)