'We'll look at everything': Trump to review Musk's govt contracts, says country can function 'without him'

US President Donald Trump Friday (June 6) suggested that his administration would be reviewing all government contracts currently held by tech billionaire Elon Musk’s companies. This comes as the world’s most powerful leader engaged in an ugly public spat with the world’s richest man on Thursday, culminating in back-and-forth attacks and insults. Signs of thaw emerged by Thursday night but Trump cleared the air by saying he was not interested in sorting things out.

“We’ll take a look at everything. I look at everything. He’s got a lot of money. He gets a lot of subsidy. So, we’ll take a look at that,” Trump said.

However, he added the decisions would be driven by national interests.

“Only if it’s fair. Only if it’s fair for him and for the country. I would certainly think about it, but it has to be fair,” Trump added.

Trump again dismissed rumours of his potential talks with Musk, saying, “No, I don’t have any plans. Somebody made a mistake I’m not even thinking about that.”

Will Trump reopen past investigations into Musk?

When reporters aboard Air Force One asked whether Trump would reopen any past investigation into Musk or his companies, the president said he didn’t know if there were any.

“I didn’t know that they had any, but if they had them, I would just let them speak for themselves. I have no idea,” said Trump.

‘US can survive without anybody, except me”

Trump also sought to downplay Musk’s contribution to the defence and space sectors, saying the country can very well function without anybody “except me”. “The US can survive without almost anybody. Except me,” he said.

Trump then said he was focused on the contentious ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and claimed he had enough support on the legislation.

“I don’t have too many critics Maybe Rand Paul or somebody. But over the last 24 hours, it’s even solidified. We have tremendous support on the bill.”

During his interaction, Trump avoided direct attacks at Musk but signalled deepening cracks in the bromance that began ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.

Trump-Musk feud

Just last week, Musk received a warm farewell from Trump as he stepped down from his role as a special employee for the US government.

However, on Thursday, Musk didn’t pull punches after the president said he was “disappointed” and “surprised” by Musk’s criticism of his tax and spending bill.

He took to X, calling the bill a “big, ugly spending bill,” and started a poll asking if it’s time to create a new political party “that actually represents the 80% in the middle.”

He pinned the poll to the top of his X account. Over 2.1 million people voted, with 81.9 per cent saying “Yes.”

Trump responded by threatening to cancel Musk’s government contracts, claiming Elon Musk “went CRAZY.”

Since then, Musk has said that Trump’s tariffs will cause a recession, and escalated matters with an unverified claim about Jeffrey Epstein.