White House responds to the latest Elon Musk jab

It appears that some distance from Washington, D.C. has given Tesla CEO Elon Musk some clarity about President Donald Trump and his economic agenda. 

Trump has repeatedly said that balancing the budget was one of his top priorities. In fact, during a recent cabinet meeting, he said that his drive to balance the federal budget was one of the main reasons he won so handily last November. 

The Department of Government Efficiency was supposed to be a big part of that drive. 

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In the same meeting, Musk bemoaned the $2 trillion annual deficit the U.S. government is running, noting that the debt's interest payments exceed the annual U.S defense budget. 

But that cabinet meeting was three months ago, and since then, a lot has changed about the president's priorities, as well as Musk's. 

The number one mission on the White House agenda right now is getting the federal spending budget passed by the Republican controlled Congress. 

Trump has described his bill as big and beautiful, but the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office says it would increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion over the next decade. 

There aren't enough DOGE cuts in the world to pay for extending the Trump tax cuts while increasing entitlement and defense spending. Trump's claim that tariffs would help balance the budget has also proven specious. 

Musk recently left his post as the head of DOGE, returning to his work at Tesla and SpaceX. He is using his newfound freedom to speak up.

Elon Musk calls out the big, beautiful bill

After being fully in the tank for Trump, Musk has begun exercising his free speech about his recent disagreements with the administration. 

Last week, he told CBS, "I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing."

Musk once made it a point to sport a red hat that read 'Trump Was Right About Everything,' but now he says he is a free thinker. 

"It's not like I agree with everything the administration does...I mean, I agree with much of what the administration does, but we have differences of opinion on the things that I don't entirely agree with," Musk told CBS. 

Related: Elon Musk explains DOGE mission, takes shot at government

On Tuesday, he took his criticism a step further.  

"I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it, you know you did wrong. You know it," Musk tweeted out. 

Musk tweeted that Tuesday afternoon before the daily scheduled White House press briefing, which gave Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt a chance to respond on behalf of the White House. 

Leavitt, who has had no issue being combative with people who have questioned the administration in the past, took a more respectful tone with Musk. 

"The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn't change the president's bill. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he's sticking to it," Leavitt said. 

Trump and Musk are starting to clash, again

The budget isn't the only issue where the White House and Musk clash. 

In early April, Musk went after Trump Senior Advisor Peter Navarro over tariffs, before Navarro returned fire and Trump backed Navarro. 

Since then, Musk's criticisms have been more muted. It's something he acknowledged in the CBS interview. 

"It's difficult for me to bring that up in an interview, because it creates a buildup of tension. So I'm stuck in a bind where I don't want to speak up against the administration, but I also don't want to take responsibility for everything the administration is doing," he said. 

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