Elon Musk’s once-friendly relationship with President Donald Trump seems to have come to an end, as the tech mogul criticized the government for ‘undermining’ him and using DOGE as scapegoats.

Before the launch of a SpaceX Starship into the stratosphere on Tuesday night, the Tesla CEO shared his disapproval with Trump’s $3.8 trillion spending proposal.

‘It undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,’ Musk bluntly told CBS.  

‘I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it.’

Musk – who spoke to various media outlets about what he views as a betrayal by the White House – expressed frustration over the way he and his loyal team of DOGE supporters have been treated.

‘DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,’ he told the Washington Post. 

‘Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.’

After helping Trump win the 2024 election with outrageous financial contributions and stage-jumping endorsements, Musk earned the title of ‘First Buddy’ in the White House.

For the first several months of Trump’s second term, Musk was everywhere – briefing Trump personally, gutting federal departments and even bringing his son, X, along to crucial meetings in the Oval Office. 

But his arrival ruffled feathers both within the political establishment and among governmental employees, particularly when he set about mercilessly slashing jobs in an effort to root out wasteful spending. 

‘People burning Teslas,’ he told the Post. ‘Why would you do that?’

As Tesla showrooms around the nation became the epicenters of violent protests, stock prices nosedived and reports emerged that the board was seriously considering replacing Musk.

‘I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics,’ Musk admitted in a separate interview with ARS Technica.

‘It’s not like I left the companies. It was just relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I’ve reduced that significantly in recent weeks.’

Musk twisted the knife a little further with outspoken criticism of Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill.’ 

‘I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both,’ he said. ‘My personal opinion.’ 

The bill is estimated to add another $3.8 trillion to the national debt which currently stands at a monstrous $36 trillion. 

‘The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized,’ he said.

‘I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in D.C., to say the least.’

The bond market, seen as a crucial indicator for the health of the economy, tanked last week after the bill made it through the House on fears that the government won’t be able to make good on its debts.

The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is intended to be an encompassing piece of legislation to allow Trump to move forward with much of his agenda, with policies ranging from tax cuts to immigration. 

The legislation brings large spending increases that the GOP has fought against in recent years, including raising the debt limit by more than $4 trillion over the next two years.

Within the package is about $5 trillion in tax cuts, to be partially funded by repealing or phasing out more quickly the clean energy tax credits passed during Joe Biden’s presidency.

Several of the provisions Trump touted on the campaign trail would be temporary, lasting roughly through his second term in office.

The tax breaks for tips, overtime and car loan interest expire at the end of 2028. That’s also the case for a $4,000 increase in the standard deduction for seniors. 

A focal point of the package is nearly $800 billion in reduced spending in the Medicaid program.

To be eligible for Medicaid, there would be new ‘community engagement requirements’ of at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service for able-bodied adults without dependents. 

The new requirement would not kick in until Jan. 1, 2029, after Trump leaves office. People would also have to verify their eligibility for the program twice a year, rather than just once.

But any increase in debt effectively makes moot the work that Musk and his team have already undertaken with DOGE, raising questions about whether the billionaire’s foray into politics – and the damage it caused his reputation and businesses – was ultimately worth it.

Musk saved an estimated $160billion in what he labeled wasteful government spending by decimating or shutting down 11 federal agencies – putting about 250,000 federal employees out of work in the process.

But even that number is a far cry from the $2trillion he vowed to save when DOGE was launched, and it has cost him immensely with mounting lawsuits and global protests against both he and his companies.

He stepped back from his high-profile role recently to refocus on his lifelong goal of colonizing Mars amid whispers his friendship with Trump was on the rocks and that he’d made enemies within the White House.

Despite all the rumors, Trump praised Musk as he revealed the billionaire had taken a step back from DOGE and said he would have been welcome to ‘stay as long as you want.’ 

On Tuesday, as SpaceX prepared its latest test flight, Musk reiterated that his priority is with his company, saying: ‘I’m physically here. This is the focus, and especially around launch. Everything comes together at the moment of launch.’

‘Mars is life insurance for life collectively,’ Musk warned earlier this month. 

‘So, eventually, all life on Earth will be destroyed by the sun. The sun is gradually expanding, and so we do at some point need to be a multi-planet civilization because Earth will be incinerated.’

Musk said his mission is far beyond simply reaching Mars once. Instead, he wants to ensure the ‘survival of civilization.’

‘We have a long way to go because it’s not just about landing on Mars and doing flags and footprints.’

NASA has long warned that eventually the sun will run out of energy. When it begins to die, NASA states the sun will expand into a giant red star, which could become so large it engulfs Mercury, Venus and potentially Earth.

Musk, in describing his approach to his work, admitted he had a ‘maniacal sense of urgency.

‘I’m just wired that way, and that’s the kind of mindset that I’ve kind of instilled in the people at SpaceX. You have got to drive hard, and not everyone is cut out for that.’