Trump Suggests He May “Take a Look” at Deporting Elon Musk Amid Policy Criticism

Trump Suggests He May “Take a Look” at Deporting Elon Musk Amid Policy Criticism

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has hinted at the possibility of deporting Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk following Musk’s recent criticism of Trump’s sweeping tax and spending legislation, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday before visiting an immigration facility in Florida, Trump was asked if Musk—originally from South Africa but now a naturalized American citizen—could face deportation over his opposition to the bill.

“I don’t know,” Trump said. “We’ll have to take a look.”

Trump also made a veiled thr+at involving the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (nicknamed DOGE), a quasi-agency Musk once led during the early months of Trump’s second term.

“We might have to put Doge on Elon,” Trump said. “You know what Doge is? Doge is the m+nster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”

Musk served as an unpaid government adviser leading DOGE, initially tasked with reducing costs. However, the agency soon became known for its aggressive dismantling of government programs—most notably, the abrupt shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Musk departed the role in May after his request to stay longer in that unpaid capacity was denied.

Since returning to the private sector, Musk has become an outspoken critic of Trump’s spending bill, which he says increases national debt and funds partisan policies without bipartisan input.

He has used his platform on X (formerly Twitter) to att+ck the bill and signal support for primary challenges against lawmakers who back it.

Trump, in turn, accused Musk of opposing the bill out of self-interest, particularly over provisions that would end tax breaks for electric vehicles.

“He’s upset that he’s losing his EV mandate,” Trump said. “But you know, he could lose a lot more than that.”

Musk has so far avoided directly addressing Trump’s thr+ats, but in a cryptic response on X, he wrote, “So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.”