(The Center Square) – Tension between President Donald Trump and former Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Must ratcheted up Thursday with the two exchanging words on social media over the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that Musk opposes and more.

At an unrelated news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump said he was disappointed in his former top aide for criticizing the bill.

“I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here,” Trump said. “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 going to have to cut the EV mandate because that’s billions and billions of dollars, and it really is unfair.”

Musk is the billionaire owner of EV manufacturer Tesla.

Responding to a video of Trump’s comments posted on X, the social media site Musk also owns, Musk said the president was wrong.

“False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” Musk wrote.

Musk previously criticized the bill for adding to the federal debt, saying it would undo all the work he and his DOGE team did to cut wasteful government spending.

Later in the day Thursday, Trump suggested on X that the federal government would save billions of dollars eliminating taxpayer-funded subsidies to Musk’s companies. 

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised the Biden didn’t do it,” he wrote.

Trump also said he asked Musk to leave DOGE, saying he was “wearing thin” and “went CRAZY.”

Musk responded to the “wearing thin” post by saying on X, “Such an obvious lie. So sad.”

He also claimed that Trump is in the Jeffrey Epstein files, without providing proof, saying that’s the reason why the Epstein files haven’t been released.

As for the president and Musk, Trump said he doesn’t know what the future holds.

“Elon and I had a great relationship,” Trump said. “I don’t know if we will anymore.”

How to Read and Understand the News

Truth doesn’t bend because we dislike it.
Facts don’t vanish when they make us uncomfortable.
Events happen whether we accept them or not.

Good reporting challenges us. The press isn’t choosing sides — it’s relaying what official, verified sources say. Blaming reporters for bad news is like blaming a thermometer for a fever.

Americans have a history of misunderstanding simple things. In the 1980s, A&W rolled out a 1/3-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It failed because too many people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If we can botch basic math, we can certainly misread the news.

Before dismissing a story, ask yourself:

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And one more: Am I assuming bias just because I don’t like the story?

Smart news consumers seek truth, not comfort.