In a jaw-dropping off-the-cuff remark at a campaign event last night, former President Donald Trump raised eyebrows by suggesting he might consider deporting Elon Musk if his proposed immigration bill continues to stall in Congress.

Speaking to a raucous crowd, Trump took aim at the billionaire X owner and Tesla CEO, saying Musk has benefited greatly from U.S. tax breaks but “doesn’t always act in America’s best interest.”

“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” Trump said to scattered laughter and confused murmurs. “You know what DOGE is? The monster that might have to eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies.”

Trump did not clarify what “DOGE” meant in this context — leaving many to wonder if he was riffing on the popular cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which Musk has famously hyped online, or if he was using it as a code word for a broader crackdown.

While Trump has previously praised Musk for fighting back against what he calls “woke censorship” on X, the relationship between the two billionaires has cooled in recent months. Musk has criticized Trump’s political comeback in subtle posts, and Trump has repeatedly implied that powerful tech elites like Musk don’t do enough to put “America First.”

The deportation quip — delivered in Trump’s trademark half-joking, half-threatening style — comes as the former president struggles to push through a new immigration package that faces stiff opposition even within his own party. Some insiders say Trump’s frustration is boiling over as he searches for high-profile targets to rally his base.

So far, Musk has not publicly responded to Trump’s jab, but the comment has already ignited a firestorm online. Some of Trump’s supporters laughed it off as vintage Trump bravado, while others noted that Musk is now a naturalized U.S. citizen, making the idea of deportation legally dubious.

Still, the threat — whether serious or symbolic — highlights the strange rift emerging between two of the most headline-grabbing figures on the American right.