President Donald Trump sidestepped a question Wednesday about Elon Musk’s public criticism of the new spending bill that recently cleared the House.
Musk, who led government spending cuts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said on CBS Sunday Morning that he was “disappointed” in the bill. “It undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” he said.
When asked in the Oval Office to respond, Trump dodged the criticism and instead focused on the politics behind getting the bill passed.
“Well, our reaction’s a lot of things,” Trump said before switching topics. “Number one, we have to get a lot of votes, we can’t be cutting — we need to get a lot of support and we have a lot of support.”
Trump emphasized the challenge of passing the bill without Democratic help. “We had to get it through the House, the House was, we had no Democrats. You know, if it was up to the Democrats, they’ll take the 65 percent increase.”
The bill raises the debt ceiling by $4 trillion and includes major Republican priorities: extended Trump-era tax cuts, increased border security funding, stricter Medicaid work requirements, and cuts to green energy tax breaks. It passed after intense last-minute negotiations and now heads to the Senate.
Trump admitted he’s not fully satisfied. “We will be negotiating that bill and I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” he said. “That’s the way it goes. It’s very big, it’s the big beautiful but the beautiful is because of all the things that we have.”
He also pointed to the ongoing talks in the Senate: “The Senate, as you know, is negotiating with us and they have to then go back to the House and you know, it’s got a way to go.”
Trump praised Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Republican Whip John Thune for their work. “I think we have an amazing — if we pull this off,” he said.
Meanwhile, Musk isn’t convinced. “I don’t think a bill can be both big and beautiful,” he said on CBS.
Watch Trump’s response in the clip below:
🚨BREAKING: Trump Responds to Elon Musk's Scathing Criticism of the 'Big, Beautiful Bill'
Musk says the bill could've gone further with it's cuts.
Trump is undeterred: "We'll have the lowest tax rate we've ever had in the history of our country"
What do you think? pic.twitter.com/CiRhaji6z8
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) May 28, 2025
