Elon Musk has warned “if the massive deficit spending continues,” there will be no money for Social Security, health care or defense, as he continues opposition to President Donald Trump‘s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
The tech billionaire and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made the comment about Trump’s spending package on his Truth Social website in the early hours of June 4.
Newsweek contacted Musk for comment via the SpaceX and Tesla press offices outside of regular office hours on Wednesday.
Why It Matters
The House narrowly passed Trump’s budget package on May 22 in a 215-214 vote, despite a number of Republicans rebelling. The bill is expected to be voted on by the Senate shortly, and several Republican Senators have already expressed deep reservations. The GOP has a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning a handful of GOP rebels could block the package.
Musk is an influential figure within the Republican Party and, until recently, was a close Trump ally, working to cut what the two men and DOGE regarded as wasted government spending.
What To Know
On Thursday morning on his X website, Musk shared a post saying: “We pay over $100 billion per month in interest on the national debt. $1.2 trillion per year. That is about 25% of all government revenue going to pay interest on the debt.”
Musk added: “Interest payments already consume 25% of all government revenue.
Interest payments already consume 25% of all government revenue.
If the massive deficit spending continues, there will only be money for interest payments and nothing else! No social security, no medical, no defense … nothing. https://t.co/UKp4HYdKRt
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2025
“If the massive deficit spending continues, there will only be money for interest payments and nothing else! No social security, no medical, no defense … nothing.”
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation estimates 18.4 percent of federal revenues will be spent on debt interest payments in 2025, a figure projected to reach 22.2 percent in 2035.
Trump’s spending bill includes around $4.9 trillion in tax breaks and increases funding for defense and border security, some of which would be paid for by Social Security cuts. It would also raise the debt ceiling, the limit on how much the federal government can borrow, to $4 trillion.
According to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute think tank, the bill would raise public debt “by over $3 trillion in coming years (and over $5 trillion over the next decade if provisions are made permanent rather than phasing out).”
Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C, on May 30, 2025.
Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C, on May 30, 2025.
ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images
What People Are Saying
On Tuesday, Musk posted on X: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore.
“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
He later added: “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn’t change the president’s opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it.”
Speaking to reporters about Musk’s criticism on Tuesday, House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene said: “Well, you know, I have to agree with him on one hand. I always love it when Americans are angry at the federal government and express it. I think that should’ve been happening for years now. I mean, we’re $36 trillion in debt for a reason.
“Unfortunately, in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ we had to spend some money to right the ship and pass President Trump’s campaign promises” on issues including border security and immigration enforcement, tax cuts and ‘America First energy.'”
Responding to criticism from GOP Senator Rand Paul on Truth Social, Trump said: “Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!”
What Happens Next
Given the level of concern among Senate Republicans, it is unclear whether Trump’s spending bill can make it through the upper chamber of Congress without substantial amendments. That, in turn, could cause further problems in the House, which only approved the original package by a wafer-thin margin.