WASHINGTON − After watching Elon Musk rip his signature bill throughout the day, President Donald Trump unleashed a flurry of executive actions that bulldozed the discourse to other matters.
Although not the stated goal, the president's blizzard of proclamations on the night of June 4 ‒ reviving a controversial travel ban, ordering an investigation into former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen and banning Harvard University from welcoming international students ‒ was classic Trump: when the going gets tough, change the subject.
Trump, never shy to lash out at his critics, has remained silent about Musk ‒ not a single Truth Social post ‒ as the world's richest man this week launched a full-out effort to kill what Trump has called his "big, beautiful, bill." (That could very likely change when Trump faces reporters Thursday as he hosts German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House.)
Not even a peep after Musk urged his 220 million followers on X, the social media platform he owns, to lobby their lawmakers to "KILL the BILL."
The orders dropped later that evening. It came shortly after Trump attended a "summer soiree" for political appointees on the White House South Lawn, his first public appearance since playing golf over the weekend.
