President Trump slammed Elon Musk’s subsidies and Republican senators struck down a plan to shield artificial intelligence from state regulations, two middle-of-the-night developments Tuesday that reinforced a growing schism between Trump and Silicon Valley supporters over his “big, beautiful bill.”
The first development came at 12:44 a.m. ET, when Trump responded to Tesla (TSLA) CEO Musk’s ongoing critiques of the package with a focus on the government grants that Musk’s companies receive.
“Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” wrote the president in a Truth Social post, adding, “perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this?” It was a reference to the government efficiency group that Musk ran until recently.
The missive from the president came after Trump’s signature legislation underwent key changes in recent days that set off many in the tech industry, Musk most of all, with new measures to tax green energy companies and further support for fossil fuels as well as a growing price tag.
Elon Musk and President Trump appeared together during a news conference in the Oval Office on Musk’s last day as a ‘special government employee’ on May 30. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) · ASSOCIATED PRESS
The divide between many in Silicon Valley and the “big, beautiful bill” has been in evidence for over a month, and it appeared set to deepen further after, a few hours later, a closely watched artificial intelligence provision was stripped from the bill itself.
This was a plan to shield the quickly growing AI industry from state and local regulations, and it had many Silicon Valley supporters.
But the idea now appears to be dead after Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee turned against a compromise plan Monday evening and stripped it from the bill.
It wasn’t close in the end, with the Senate voting 99-1 to adopt Blackburn’s subsequent amendment in a count that wrapped up a little after 4:00 a.m. ET.
Trump’s overall package also appears to be teetering Tuesday morning after a series of overnight developments saw two key Republican senators — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine — uncommitted to vote yes.
Those two senators could join two Republicans already committed to voting no, which would be enough to sink the package.
The drama between the president and the world’s richest man has been up and down for weeks, but it escalated Monday afternoon when Musk offered new electoral threats against Republicans.
Musk had already amplified the critiques of Democrats and talked about the need for a new political party. He offered a striking promise Monday afternoon that lawmakers who vote for the bill “will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
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