Mike Johnson said Elon Musk is 'terribly wrong' about Trump's 'big beautiful bill'
Samuel Corum via Getty Images; Allison Robbert/AFP via Getty Images
- Elon Musk called the GOP's signature tax bill a "disgusting abomination."
- But House Speaker Mike Johnson says Musk is "terribly wrong."
- House Republicans passed President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill" on May 22.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was disappointed to hear Elon Musk's critique of President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill."
"Let me say this. It's very disappointing. I have come to consider Elon a good friend. He's obviously a very intelligent person, and he's done a lot of great work," Johnson told reporters on Tuesday.
"But with all due respect, my friend Elon is terribly wrong about the one big beautiful bill," Johnson added.
Johnson said he had a "friendly conversation" with Musk on Monday, where he pitched the bill's merits to the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.
"He and I spoke for, I think, more than 20 minutes on the telephone, and I extolled all the virtues of the bill and he seemed to understand that," Johnson said on Tuesday.
Johnson was speaking at a doorstop interview when he was asked about Musk's X post on Tuesday afternoon. In his post, Musk called Trump's signature tax bill a "massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill" and a "disgusting abomination."
"I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," Musk wrote.
"Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it," he added.
On May 22, House Republicans passed Trump's "big beautiful bill" and sent it to the Senate. GOP lawmakers hope the bill will be sent to Trump's desk on July 4.
Trump's bill, in its current form, will raise the US deficit by $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years, per the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
This isn't the first time Musk has criticized Trump's signature tax bill. Musk told "CBS Sunday Morning" in an interview that aired on June 1 that he was disappointed with the bill.
"I was like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said.
"I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful. I don't know if it could be both," he added.
Musk's pointed criticism of the GOP comes just days after he announced his departure from the Trump administration. Musk said on May 28 that he was wrapping up his 130-day tenure as a special government employee leading the White House DOGE office.
In his interview with CBS, Musk said he did have "differences of opinion" with the Trump administration but but did not specify what they were.
"But it's difficult for me to bring that up in an interview because then it creates a bone of contention," Musk told CBS.
"So then, I'm a little stuck in a bind, where I'm like, well, I don't wanna, you know, speak up against the administration. But I also don't wanna take responsibility for everything the administration's doing," he added.
Musk did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.