Trouble in paradise
By 
This will not stop Musk from using Trump instrumentally and vice versa, of course, but this suggests that Musk is actually upset about how much DOGE damaged his brand:
Elon Musk lashed out on Tuesday against the far-reaching Republican bill intended to enact President Trump’s domestic policy agenda, posting on X that it was a “disgusting abomination” and telling House members who voted for it: “You know you did wrong.”
The tech billionaire’s criticism of the bill, one of Mr. Trump’s top priorities, was another indication of a widening rift between Mr. Musk and the president. Mr. Musk — who has left his governmental role leading the Department of Government Efficiency — largely presented a united front with the Trump administration until recently.
Last month, Mr. Musk started publicly criticizing Mr. Trump’s bill, saying in an interview with CBS News’s “Sunday Morning” that he was disappointed in the legislation’s size and impact on the deficit.
On Tuesday, Mr. Musk ramped up his criticism, writing on X: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore.” He called the bill “massive, outrageous, pork-filled.” In follow-up posts, he said, “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit” and “Congress is making America bankrupt.”
“The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” said Karoline Leavitt, a White House spokeswoman. “It doesn’t change the president’s opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it.”
Mr. Trump has urged swift passage of the legislation — officially called the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act — which would slash taxes, providing the biggest savings to the wealthy, and steer more money to the military and immigration enforcement. As written, the legislation would cut health, nutrition, education and clean energy programs to cover part of the cost.
Mr. Trump and his allies have sought to sell the bill with falsehoods. White House officials and Speaker Mike Johnson have claimed the bill would shrink the debt, although the Congressional Budget Office and a number of independent analysts have estimated that the bill would increase federal deficits by well over $1 trillion, even when economic growth is factored in.
The worst part of the bill, by far, are the cuts to Medicaid and the ACA. But note the dishonesty of Republican characterizations of the bill being called out explicitly — to the media, deficits are one of the few issues “objective” news stories are allowed to call important. This will attract real negative attention.
This is not an all-upside situation, though — what the Senate passes is probably going to be even worse than the House bill. But since this was going to happen anyway, better that the political press have a vehicle to point out that the bill will both eviscerate Medicaid and greatly increase the deficit.