Trump Downplays Musk’s Role in Election Win: I Would Have Won ‘Easily Anyway’

 

President Donald Trump on Thursday dismissed Elon Musk’s recent criticisms of his flagship tax bill and downplayed the billionaire’s influence on the 2024 election, insisting he would have won “easily anyway.”

Speaking from the Oval Office alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump was asked about Musk’s shifting stance on the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which includes steep cuts to electric vehicle tax credits.

Musk, who strongly endorsed Trump to the tune of hundreds of millions in donations and campaigned for him in Pennsylvania last year, has blasted the bill online all week.

Trump was asked by reporters about whether he and Musk had experienced a falling out. After he bragged about his administration’s work to secure the country’s southern border, he said he would have won Pennsylvania without Musk’s support.

“So we’ve done a great job,” he said. “Elon knew that. Elon endorsed me very strongly. He actually went up and campaigned for me. I think I would have won.” Trump continued with a swipe at Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz:

Susie [Wiles] would say I would’ve won Pennsylvania easily anyway, even if the governor ran, the real governor, not the governor from Minnesota, who’s a, I mean, he’s a sick puppy, that guy, that poor guy, I feel sorry for him.

But they made a bad choice with him. But if you pick Shapiro or anybody else, I spoke to him recently about his, you know, his house being set on fire, which was terrible. But if they picked him, I would have won Pennsylvania, I’d have won it by a lot.

Trump concluded, “But I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill. Better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people. He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem. And he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re gonna have to cut the EV mandate.”

Musk fired back quickly on X, calling the bill “DISGUSTING”.

“Whatever,” he wrote. Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill. In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.”

Watch above via CNN.

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