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We remember that you never know about Donald Trump
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and there has just been the most extraordinary bust-up with his one-time lieutenant and acolyte Elon Musk
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over the so-called Big Beautiful Bill of Tax and Spending Measures. Trump is currently trying to get through Congress
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It would cut taxes, mainly for the rich, by $4.5 trillion. That's trillion, not billion, the largest tax cut in American history
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while also cutting programmes such as Medicaid and food stamps that the poorest Americans depend upon
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Beyond that, it would greatly increase the already enormous American debt, and that could spook markets around the world and ultimately affect your mortgage and borrowing costs at home
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So, what did Elon Musk, the world's richest man, the rocket man, the car man
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who spent so much of his own money trying to get Donald Trump elected, make of his friend's prized legislation. I'm sorry, but I just can't take it anymore, he wrote on X
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This massive, outrageous, pork-filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame
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on those who voted for it. You know you did wrong. You know it. Let's talk now to LBC's man in
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Washington, Simon Marks. I think, Simon, in the past we have reflected on the likelihood of an
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eventual falling out between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. But I never expected quite this level of
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verbiage Well absolutely Andrew I mean he might as well have said free at last free at last You know I mean it only been 96 hours since Donald Trump welcomed Elon Musk to the Oval Office gave him a send off despite the fact that Mr Musk behavior in the room last Friday was extremely erratic even gave him a golden key to the White House as a parting gift and insisted Elon not really going anywhere
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where he'll be back and forth between his businesses and the White House
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And no sooner had Elon Musk left Donald Trump's inner circle than he took a flamethrower to what is a central pillar of Donald Trump's economic policies
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And this bill, by the way, it's not a so-called big, beautiful bill
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That's what it is actually called. That is the name that Republicans on Capitol Hill have given it
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And it is the flip side to that tariff set of policies that you were just talking about, because the White House now accepts the tariffs are going to lead to supply chain problems here
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They're going to lead to price inflation. So this tax and spending bill is the other side of the coin
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It's designed to provide economic stimulus to the economy to help it overcome the blip that the White House says the tariffs are going to create
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And what Elon Musk has done by torpedoing this, it's a depth charge that has gone off within the Senate and the House of Representatives orchestrated by Mr. Musk, is essentially threaten Republican backing for Donald Trump
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I mean, there was a door that was ajar for him because there are almost enough members of the Senate on the Republican side to derail all of this And by exploding that depth charge he absolutely encouraging Republicans on Capitol Hill
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completely to turn against this big, beautiful bill of Donald Trump's. And to explain to people at home exactly what's in this bill, it's a very, very big one
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so we can't explain everything. But basically, I think there's about a trillion switch of cuts for the poor
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that goes straight to the richest people in America. and because of all the extra spending in it
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it's going to push American debt so high that some quite serious people think it might actually blow up the entire system
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Yeah, absolutely. So the Congressional Budget Office today, which is bipartisan, it's independent, it costs legislation
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so that the government and its opponents can have a hard number to talk about
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The Congressional Budget Office says that this package of legislation is going to swell the deficit by $2.5 trillion
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It's going to lead to a raising of America's debt ceiling and will allow the United States to have a total debt of a whopping $36 trillion
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And the way it does all of this is by basically penalising the least affluent in society
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It's estimated that 10.9 million Americans will go uninsured. They'll lose their access to health insurance, many of them, of course, taking up Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act to provide that insurance
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It going to see four million fewer people having access to food stamps which are the handouts available for the least affluent Americans to buy basic foodstuffs but also it entails big tax cuts for business It pretty horrendous Briefly Simon another piece of Trump news He just come off the phone to President Putin
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It doesn't sound like a very happy call. He said it was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace
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President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent Ukrainian attack on his airfields
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This is a new tone, really. It sounds almost kind of reflective and sad from Trump
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Yeah, definitely not peace in our time, that's for certain. And we don't learn from Donald Trump's statement how he responded
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Did he do anything to dissuade Vladimir Putin from escalating the situation
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and engage very strongly in some kind of retaliation towards Ukraine? There is evidence in this social media posting that Vladimir Putin may once again have played
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Donald Trump, because it says that President Putin suggested that he could participate in
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ongoing discussions with Iran, designed, of course, to head off Iran's nuclear aspirations
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and that he thought, President Putin, that perhaps he could be helpful in getting all of this brought
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to a rapid conclusion. Donald Trump certainly seems willing to take the Russian leader up on
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that offer and that was almost certainly a gambit by the Kremlin leader to divert attention away from
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the conversation on Ukraine and say I'm sure there's other areas where I can help you
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He may be many things President Putin but stupid he isn't. Simon Marks thank you very much for that
