There have been more than a few barrels of virtual ink spilled over the supposed falling-out between President Trump and DOGE creator Elon Musk. The primary source of that disagreement is over the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) that is currently making its way through the Senate's sausage factory, and about which we can hope to hear more before the Independence Day weekend - but that mill sometimes grinds more slowly than we would like.
On Sunday, though, President Trump, speaking with Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo, the president had some words of praise for the tech billionaire - some qualified words of praise, that is.
President Donald Trump praised wayward wingman Elon Musk on Sunday, despite the Tesla founder's renewed criticism of the president's "big, beautiful bill."
Trump called Musk a "wonderful guy" in an interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, though he did say Musk's behavior after their split, which included a since-deleted tweet connecting Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, was "not appropriate."
"Have you spoken to Elon Musk? What happened there?" Bartiromo asked.
"I think he's a wonderful guy. I haven't spoken to him much, but I think Elon is a wonderful guy, and I know he's going to do well always," Trump responded. "He's a smart guy. And he actually went and campaigned with me and this and that. But he got a little bit upset, and that wasn't appropriate."
This supposed falling out may be making a mountain out of a molehill. In 1931, the American chewing gum model William Wrigley Jr., speaking to "The American Magazine," said:
Business is built by men who care—care enough to disagree, fight it out to a finish, get facts. When two men always agree, one of them is unnecessary.
The gum king was talking business, not politics, but the quote applies nonetheless. Elon Musk's creation of DOGE shows he's committed to actually reducing the size and scope of government, which is a priority of President Trump's, as well. Of course, most of the DOGE's findings have not yet been enshrined in legislation, which will have to happen. But the greatest of journeys, to use another famous old saying, begins with a single step. The DOGE has identified a lot of government waste and, frankly, just plain stupidity, and every finding is a tumor that will have to be cut out by Congress.
OK, now I'm done mixing metaphors.
See Also: Why the One Big Beautiful Bill Must Pass—Despite Its Ugly Parts
Trump Praises Republicans Who Helped Get the One Big, Beautiful Bill Over the Finish Line
In one form or another, the OBBB is probably going to happen. I'm not a hundred percent happy with progress myself; the striking of firearms suppressors and short-barreled rifles/shotguns from the NFA list, as of this writing, seems to have fallen by the wayside, and I was looking forward to the resurrection of the Marble's Game-Getter in some modern form. But there's an argument being made here for denying the perfect the chance to scuttle the good. Is the OBBB perfect? No. Is it worth doing? Yes. The alternative is the status quo. That's the hand we are dealt. (And there I go with the metaphors again.)
President Trump also offered a possible reason for Musk's discomfiture:
"Why did he get upset? He just wasn't getting what he wanted?" Bartiromo pressed.
"Look, the electric vehicle mandate, the EV mandate, is a tough thing for him. I would, you know, I don't want everybody to have to have an electric car," Trump explained.
I suspect there's more to it than that. Musk may have any number of reasons to object to the bill. Many people object to it for one reason or another. Alaska's own Princess Lisa Murkowski offered objections until she was (very likely) appeased by a waiver for Alaska's SNAP program. There is no doubt that many more deals like that are being made in the Senate right now, as I write these words.
This is politics. It's never perfect. It's often only barely acceptable. But consider this: Before people get too upset at the OBBB being imperfect, reflect on what legislation would have been emerging from the Harris administration, should this last election have gone the other way.
Politics is the art of the possible. President Trump seems to get this. Mr. Musk would do well to remember it as well.
Editor's Note: The Deep State is working overtime to subvert President Trump's agenda and the will of the people.
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