Donald Trump and Elon Musk reignited their bitter feud Tuesday, with the US president threatening to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses for criticising Trump's flagship spending bill.The Space X and Tesla boss is threatening to turn his riches against Trump, mulling a rival political party to challenge Republican lawmakers who vote for the president's ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’ The bill passed the Senate by a narrow margin Tuesday.Trump, 79, reacted vengefully as he headed to the opening of a new migrant detention center in Florida dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz.”We'll have to take a look,’ he told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who has held US citizenship since 2002.Trump also signaled that he could take aim at the huge contracts and subsidies that Musk's Space X rocket and Starlink satellite internet businesses receive from the US government.’We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,’ Trump said.Trump added later in Florida: ‘I don't think he should be playing that game with me.’In reply to a post on his X social network featuring Trump's deportation comments, Musk said: ‘So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.’Shares of Tesla sank around 5% after Trump's threats.Trump said Musk was attacking the bill because he was annoyed that it had dropped measures to support the electric vehicles (EV) industry.The tycoon and the president shared a brief but intense bromance after Trump's return to power in January.But they had a huge public blow-up in May as Musk criticized the spending bill and then left the government.Musk has said he will set up his own political movement called the ‘America Party’ if Trump's bill passes.And he has pledged to fund challengers against lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill.The feud could create new challenges for Musk's business empire, particularly as the electric automaker – his primary source of wealth – bets heavily on the success of its robotaxi programme currently being tested in Austin, Texas. The speed of Tesla's robotaxi expansion depends heavily on state and federal regulation of self-driving vehicles.
