Several reports from credible sources have indicated the immediate cause of the all out fight between billionaire Elon Musk and president Donald Trump is the passage of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ by Congress. The fight started when Elon started criticizing this Trump’s major policy bill, calling it a spending abomination.
Elon wrote on X, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on all those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
Trump told media reporters he doesn’t know what is going on with Elon, because he (Elon) knew more about this bill than most people and suddenly he has become hostile. However, Elon posted on X, refuting Trump’s claim.
“Not even those in Congress who had to vote on the Big Ugly Spending Bill had time to read it!” Said Elon. He stated the bill was passed in the dead of night so fast that no one in Congress could read it.
Trump told the media, Elon is angry because this bill will cut the Electric Vehicle (EV) Mandate which makes Tesla billions of dollars. He noted that the easiest way to save money was for the government to cut Elon’s governmental subsidies and contracts. In the heat of this disagreement between both men, Trump terminated Elon’s political appointment as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)–an agency that aggressively pursues cutting cost and waste of public funds.
What is the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill?’
According to Nigerian US-based financial analyst, Kalu Aja, the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is “a reconciliation bill. You can’t include discretionary items because it won’t pass the Senate by a simple majority. Thus, only tax cuts and cuts to mandatory entitlement programs can be included in the bill.
“Discretionary cuts will be included later in separate bills. Elon is too smart not to know this.”
Aja added, “Trump ran on boosting fossil fuels (drill baby drill) and scaling back renewable. Was Elon expecting that after Trump went to the Gulf States and brought in trillions, he would turn around and promote EVs?”
What does the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ entails for Africa and Africans?
According to the Pan African media platform, African Stream, “The US House of Representatives passed a bill on 22 May that would impose a 3.5 per cent tax on immigrants’ remittances abroad, down from the initial 5 per cent proposal. The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ that now moves to the US Senate for approval before needing US President Donald Trump’s signature would affect part of the over $100 billion annually that streams from the global African diaspora back to their native countries.
“The UN says 2023 remittances amounted to more than twice foreign governments’ ‘development assistance’ and direct investment in Africa. Critics describe the proposed tax on remittances as an attack on the Global South, as they pay for school fees, medical expenses, housing and businesses on the continent.”
African Stream argues, this bill will bring great financial distress to African economies given the volume of Diaspora remittance to Africa per annum in billions of dollars, which is a critical source of funding for millions of people in Africa and economies of various African countries. In 2024, Diaspora remittance to Africa was $52.9 billion, with Nigeria receiving 38% of the total–a whooping $24.31 billion.
African Stream stated, “Republican lawmakers proposed the bill to allegedly curb illegal immigration, but all it appears to do is extract from already-taxed wages, illustrating how imperialist states control colonised people’s financial capacity.
“For centuries, we have fought European colonisers who imposed taxes and exploited our lands and peoples. If this bill passes, our continent’s brain drain will be transformed into a cash drain.
“This begs the question: Will the African countries defend their citizens abroad or keep quiet while the West remakes imperialism for the 21st century on the backs of their people abroad?”
