Former presidential adviser and confidante Elon Musk escalated his rising feud with President Trump by saying the president’s tariffs would lead to a recession later this yr.

“The Trump Tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year,” he wrote on his social media web site, X.

The comment is the newest dig at Trump’s insurance policies because the tech billionaire left his function within the administration final week as head of the federal government cost-cutting panel generally known as the Division of Authorities Effectivity, or DOGE.

Musk blasted Republicans’ tax-and-spending-cut invoice this week, which Trump helped to shepherd by way of the Home final month, calling it a “disgusting abomination.”

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk wrote on X on Tuesday. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

Past the president’s insurance policies, Musk additionally attacked Trump personally, claiming Thursday that Trump is talked about in recordsdata pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted baby abuser who died in jail in 2019.

“Time to drop the really big bomb: [Donald Trump] is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” he wrote on X.

Musk’s efforts with DOGE throughout his time within the Trump administration stirred a flurry of controversy and led to resignations of high officers in a number of companies, together with the IRS and the Treasury Division.

Considerations about his crew’s entry to non-public knowledge have resulted in lawsuits.

“DOGE’s mission to advise OMB and the White House on how to slash regulations and cut expenditures puts at risk important consumer safeguards and public protections,” Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, an advocacy group that introduced a lawsuit towards the administration, mentioned in a January assertion.

Controversies have additionally been swirling about Musk’s private life.

A latest New York Instances investigation discovered that Musk was “juggling … a drug habit far more serious than previously known.”

Musk’s criticism is channeling issues amongst economists and enterprise leaders concerning the prospect of a recession ensuing from tariffs.

Trump’s tariffs — notably his “reciprocal,” country-specific tariffs and triple-digit tariffs on China — have been walked again, however a extremely elevated total U.S. tariff charge relative to latest many years has remained in place.

The general tariff charge is someplace between 10 and 15 % now, based on numerous estimates, and Trump’s tariffs are anticipated to tug in about $2.5 trillion in federal revenues.

The Federal Reserve has repeatedly painted a stagflationary image of the financial outlook in latest months. The Congressional Price range Workplace (CBO) factored a boosted inflationary prediction of 0.4 share factors on account of the tariffs into its budgetary calculations this week.

Nevertheless, a recession is much from assured, and plenty of predictions concerning the economic system have grown extra constructive as commerce negotiations have continued.

The U.S. commerce deficit narrowed by a report quantity in April following intense front-running of tariffs by importers within the first quarter, inflicting a collective sigh of reduction from many traders.

“The drop in imports should have a positive impact on GDP, quelling any fears of a recession in the near term,” Damian McIntyre, vice chairman at funding agency Federated Hermes, commented Thursday.