- Elon Musk has publicly severed ties with Donald Trump over a controversial Congressional spending bill, slamming it as fiscally irresponsible and warning it will balloon the U.S. national debt to unsustainable levels. Prominent financial leaders—including Jamie Dimon, Jerome Powell, Ray Dalio, and Warren Buffett—echo Musk’s concerns, warning that unchecked government borrowing could trigger a severe economic crisis.
The partnership between Elon Musk and Donald Trump appears to be over for good, with the Tesla CEO departing Washington D.C. before launching an attack on the White House’s central spending bill.
Last night, the gloves were off, and Musk declared President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill.”
Musk’s ire stems from his concern that the bill containing the “largest tax cuts in history” will further increase the national debt, which Musk had been attempting to reduce—or at least not increase—with his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
DOGE’s role had been to reduce the yearly budget deficit, which feeds into the wider government deficit, currently at $32.6 trillion.
But while the White House says its policies will boost GDP by 2.6% to 3.2% in the long term and increase take-home pay for median income households by $5,000 a year, independent economists and researchers have found the legislation would add $3.8 trillion to the deficit. In comparison, proposed cuts to Medicaid would shave only $1 trillion in spending.
After labelling the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ a “disgusting abomination” Musk continued with his tirade about national debt, writing on his social media platform, X: “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
“Congress is making America bankrupt,” he added.
The real concern with U.S. national debt is not merely its existence—in fact borrowing is a necessary component of the global economy—but America’s debt-to-GDP ratio. Is America’s economy growing quickly enough to not only service its existing debt but also sell additional loans it will need to pay interest on in the future?
To this end, the richest man on the planet doubled down. Reposting a video of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell—something of an adversary to the Trump 2.0 administration—discussing his concerns about national debt, Musk added: “This immense level of overspending will drive America into debt slavery!”
He added: “Interest payments already consume 25% of all government revenue. If the massive deficit spending continues, there will only be money for interest payments and nothing else! No social security, no medical, no defense … nothing.”
Musk is not alone in his concern about national debt—far from it. Here are just some of the other notable names who are concerned by the issue.
Jamie Dimon: Market will ‘crack’
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is a fan of the extension of Trump’s tariff cuts, saying it will foster business investment and, therefore, growth.
But that doesn’t detract from the Wall Street veteran’s wider concerns about debt.
Speaking Friday at the Reagan National Economic Forum, the leader of America’s largest bank said the bond market is going to “crack” at some stage because of spending and quantitative easing.
“I just don’t know if it’s going to be a crisis in six months or six years, and I’m hoping that we change both the trajectory of the debt and the ability of market makers to make markets,” Dimon said. “Unfortunately, it may be that we need that to wake us up.”
This isn’t the first time Dimon has issued a wake-up call to policymakers. Last year he said the economy faces a market “rebellion” because of interest payments on the debt, explaining: “If you look at that 100% debt to GDP by [2035] I think it’s going to be 130%, and it’s a hockey stick. That hockey stick doesn’t start yet but when it starts, markets around the world…there will be a rebellion.”
Jerome Powell: ‘An unsustainable path’
Federal Open Market Committee leader Jerome Powell is equally worried about the national debt path. However, he said it’s not his position to suggest how the problem should be rectified.
“It’s probably time, or past time, to get back to an adult conversation among elected officials about getting the federal government back on a sustainable fiscal path,” Powell said.
Speaking last month, Powell said: “I think [Congress] don’t need my advice and our advice on how to do fiscal policy, any more than we need their advice.
“It’s on Congress to figure out how to get us back on a sustainable path.”
In the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest reporting, the independent agency reported it expects debt to reach 156% of GDP in 2055.
“Mounting debt would slow economic growth, push up interest payments to foreign holders of U.S. debt, and pose significant risks to the fiscal and economic outlook; it could also cause lawmakers to feel constrained in their policy choices,” the CBO adds.
Ray Dalio: ‘Shocking developments ahead’
Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio reiterated his concerns earlier this year. Speaking at CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore in March, Dalio explained: “We have a very severe supply and demand problem. Some people think we’ll handle it because we’ve handled it so far. I don’t think they understand the mechanics of debt.”
Dalio continued that, at some point, the U.S. will have to “sell a quantity of debt that the world is not going to want to buy.” This is an “imminent” scenario of “paramount importance,” Dalio said.
The man worth $14 billion according to Forbes continued: “You are going to see shocking developments in terms of how [debt] is going to be dealt with.”
Warren Buffett: ‘We’re operating at a fiscal deficit now that is unsustainable’
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett isn’t shy of rolling his sleeves up in a time of crisis, but even the Oracle of Omaha wouldn’t fancy the task of addressing national debt.
Speaking at this year’s annual shareholder meeting, Buffett was asked how far DOGE would be able to go when it came to addressing the debt issue.
“I think the problem of how you control revenue and expenses in the government is one that is never fully solved. And has really hurt dramatically many civilizations and I don’t think we’re immune from it,” Buffett said.
“We’re operating at a fiscal deficit now that is unsustainable over a very long period of time—we don’t know if that means two years or 20 years because there’s never been a country like the United States,” he continued. “But you know that if something can’t go on forever, it will end.”
Debt also has the aspect of becoming “uncontrollable” Buffett added: “I wouldn’t want the job of trying to correct what’s going on … I think it’s a job I don’t want, but it’s a job I think should be done, and Congress does not seem good at doing it.”
What economists say
Professor Joao Gomes, a Wharton Business School finance professor, told Fortune: “The most important thing about debt for people to keep in mind is you need somebody to buy it. We used to be able to count on China, Japanese investors, the Fed to [buy the debt]. All those players are slowly going away and are actually now selling.
“If at some moment these folks that have so far been happy to buy government debt from major economies decide, ‘You know what, I’m not too sure if this is a good investment anymore. I’m going to ask for a higher interest rate to be persuaded to hold this,’ then we could have a real accident on our hands.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
