But once again, Musk has bigger issues at Tesla that came to a head July 2. Tesla had a rough start to the year as Musk's political outspokenness has turned off many potential buyers. After record sales in Q4 2024, the company has now reported two straight quarters of falling sales.

The electric-vehicle maker has an aging lineup and slumping sales, but its CEO has shifted his focus to robotaxis and robots.

The company has devoted resources to autonomous driving rather than developing new models to attract car buyers.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump took aim at Musk for the subsidies his companies have received, particularly for electric vehicles. Trump said without them, Musk would "probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa." Trump had also said "we'll have to look" when asked if he would consider deporting Musk.

"Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa," Trump said in the post. "No more Rocket launches,

Donald Trump threatened to withdraw government subsidies from Elon Musk’s companies and examine the billionaire’s immigration status after the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer ratcheted up his criticism of the president’s tax and spending bill.

The war of words between billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump over the big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts is heating up again, with Musk claiming he may form a new political party an

President Donald Trump said he would look into deporting billionaire Elon Musk in response to a question about the ally-turned-critic of his signature tax and spending legislation.