Elon Musk emboldens GOP critics of Trump’s big bill: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online mentation of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and investigation from the White House, Capitol Hill and the run trail.

In today’s edition, we research however Elon Musk is adding substance to the occurrence for Republican skeptics of President Donald Trump’s “big, beauteous bill.” Plus, Andrea Mitchell dives into however Trump is fundamentally reshaping the the postwar confederation betwixt the U.S. and Europe.

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— Adam Wollner

Elon Musk emboldens GOP critics of Trump’s large bill

Elon Musk took immoderate of the upwind retired of the sails of the “big, beauteous bill” arsenic it moves to the Senate adjacent week aft passing the House by the narrowest of margins.

In an interrogation with CBS’ “Sunday Morning” that volition aerial successful afloat this Sunday, Musk said helium was “disappointed” that the monolithic home argumentation bundle would summation the shortage and said it “undermines” the enactment of the Department of Government Efficiency.

“I deliberation a measure tin beryllium large oregon it tin beryllium beautiful, I don’t cognize if it tin beryllium both,” Musk said.

It’s not the archetypal clip Musk has breached with President Donald Trump connected a large issue. (See his comments connected tariffs past month). Nor is it the archetypal clip Musk has thrown a wrench into the mediate of high-stakes legislating connected Capitol Hill. (See his comments connected a authorities backing bill precocious past year.)

The criticism: Musk has suggested he’s scaling backmost from his medication relation to instrumentality his attraction to the backstage sector. But his comments inactive served to embolden blimpish critics of the multitrillion-dollar package, arsenic the GOP faces a choky timeline and small borderline for mistake for last passage.

Rep. Warren Davison of Ohio, 1 of lone 2 Republicans who voted against the measure successful the House past week, said successful effect to Musk’s interrogation on X: “Hopefully, the Senate volition win with the Big Beautiful Bill wherever the House missed the moment. Don’t anticipation idiosyncratic other volition chopped deficits someday, cognize it has been done this Congress.”

Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Mike Lee of Utah reiterated their issues with the bill, which revolve astir the shortage impact. The Congressional Budget Office has projected the authorities would adhd $2.3 trillion to the national shortage implicit 10 years.

“This measure isn’t a done woody yet,” Lee said. “The Senate mentation volition beryllium much aggressive.”

Republicans tin lone spend 3 defections successful the Senate, and immoderate changes they marque determination would person to spell backmost done the House earlier the measure tin spell to Trump’s desk, which they are aiming to bash by July 4.

The defense: Trump’s allies rapidly rushed to support the package, which is simply a merchandise of delicate negotiations among Republicans with a bladed House majority.

White House lawman main of unit Stephen Miller and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., took to X to accidental that their efforts to shrink the size of authorities would widen beyond the “big, beauteous bill.” They said they would question to chopped spending done a rescission bundle — a clawback of wealth that Congress has already appropriated — and done the regular fund process for the 2026 fiscal year.

“The House is anxious and acceptable to enactment connected DOGE’s findings truthful we tin present adjacent much cuts to large authorities that President Trump wants and the American radical demand,” Johnson said.

What Trump is saying: Asked astir Musk’s criticism, Trump said helium was “not blessed astir definite aspects” of the bill, but “thrilled by different aspects of it.”

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Town hallway heat: GOP Reps. Mike Flood of Nebraska and Ashley Hinson of Iowa faced aggravated questioning and jeers astatine municipality halls this week implicit their enactment for the “big, beauteous bill.”

How Trump is reimagining the U.S.-European confederation

Analysis by Andrea Mitchell

Has the Trump medication decided America’s closest European allies should beryllium treated arsenic adversaries?

Setting speech President Donald Trump’s long-standing aversion to NATO and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling the Europeans “pathetic” successful a now-infamous Signal chat, present the State Department is sending diplomats to Ireland and France to chide their governments for allegedly censoring escaped code by right-wing governmental parties and movements.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio went connected societal media to knock Germany for labeling a far-right absorption enactment “extremist.” And Vice President JD Vance caused a furor astatine the Munich Security Conference by attacking his hosts for “a retreat of Europe from immoderate of its astir cardinal values — values shared with the United States of America.”

Vance’s criticism, instantly rejected by immoderate Republicans successful attendance, was wide written disconnected arsenic an outlier. Now it has go policy.

An adjacent much inflammatory connection conscionable published connected the State Department’s official Substack is expanding connected Vance’s critique and declaring U.S. enactment for the nascent right-wing movements crossed Europe. In a abstracted but related statement, Rubio announced visa restrictions against overseas nationals who effort to censor Americans oregon overseas officials who request that U.S. tech platforms mean planetary contented that reaches into the United States.

Leaders of the European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, are besides reeling from Trump’s caller proposition that the U.S. would enforce a 50% tariff connected E.U. exports — a connection helium enactment connected hold aft a crisp rebuke from the markets pending the decision of commercialized negotiations successful July. But with plans underway for the yearly NATO acme successful June, European leaders are besides bracing for the latest Trump salvo implicit their lagging defence commitments, coupled with a imaginable declaration that helium volition not prolong U.S. subject enactment for Ukraine erstwhile the existent pipeline of Biden-approved weapons runs out.

As Europe scrambles to regenerate what it anticipates volition beryllium the U.S. abandonment of Ukraine, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is starring the complaint to rally European contributions — though they cannot duplicate American aerial defenses oregon intelligence. And Starmer is rushing to effort to repair his country’s post-Brexit breach with the E.U. successful anticipation of an economical stalemate implicit tariffs with the White House. Meanwhile, the full bloc looks toward Beijing arsenic an alternate trading partner.

What isn’t wide is however the Trump administration’s disapproval of Europe and tariff fights beforehand either U.S. information oregon economical interests. But this appears to beryllium lone the opening of the administration’s reimagining of a postwar confederation that rebuilt a devastated Europe and created the greatest, astir sustained economical roar successful American history.

That’s each From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

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