It’s Rand Paul and Elon Musk vs. Donald Trump Over the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
The intra-Republican fight over the future of a major tax and borrowing bill intensified on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump lashed out and former White House favorite Elon Musk offered a sharp criticism of the proposal.
The whole thing played out, as today’s political dramas so often do, in a series of posts on social media.
Trump slammed Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) in a Tuesday morning post on Truth Social that accused the senator of having “very little understanding” of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill (BBB), which the House passed last week. The bill would extend the 2017 personal income tax cuts and includes a number of new tax and spending provisions.
Trump wrote that the bill is a big “WINNER.” He may see it that way, but every independent assessment of the package says it will add at least $3 trillion to the long-term deficit (and potentially as much as $5 trillion). That means the bill is doing the opposite of what Trump vowed to do in March during his speech to Congress, when he promised to balance the budget.
The prospect of that increased borrowing is at the root of Paul’s objections. In a post on X, Paul seemingly responded to Trump’s criticism by showing that he understands exactly what the BBB would do.
“The math doesn’t add up,” Paul wrote. “I’m not supporting a bill that increases the debt b
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