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Elon Musk has lambasted Donald Trump’s signature tax bill, calling it “a disgusting abomination”, in an outburst that threatens to destroy the relationship between the US president and his billionaire backer.

In a series of posts on his social media site X on Tuesday, Musk, who abruptly left the administration last week, hit out at what he called a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill”.

He added: “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

Musk’s comments came just hours after Trump had criticised Republican Senator Rand Paul, a staunch fiscal conservative, for his opposition to the proposed legislation, which the president described as a “BIG GROWTH BILL” on his social media platform.

The legislation, which Trump had coined his “big, beautiful bill”, passed the House last month by one vote and is currently being considered by the Senate. It has been criticised by fiscal hawks for adding trillions to the national debt when investors are already worried about the US’s widening deficit.

Supporters of Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) have also criticised the bill, claiming it would undo some of the initiative’s savings.

Asked about Musk’s latest comments, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn’t change the president’s opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it.”

This is a developing story

MIAMI — After public backlash and concern, the National Weather Service is beginning the process of hiring more than 100 employees to “stabilize operations” at its field offices around the country.

Following cuts ordered by the Trump administration earlier this year, the weather service lost nearly 600 positions.

Erica Grow Cei, a National Weather Service spokesperson, says the new hires will fill positions at field offices where there’s “the greatest operational need.”

Tom Fahy, legislative director with the union that represents NWS employees, says the service will fill 126 new positions.

“The positions’ categories are meteorologist, hydrologist, physical scientist and electronic technicians,” he says. Electronic technicians are critical positions in charge of maintaining and repairing weather radar installations and other sensitive equipment. “Radar is an essential part of our national weather infrastructure,” Fahy says, “to protect the American people from severe weather and dangerous storms.

Following the job cuts, some field offices were no longer staffed around the clock. Some also cut back on weather balloon launches, critical tools in gathering data needed for local and national forecasts, according to the National Weather Service.

Mary Glackin, a former undersecretary at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the NWS’ parent agency, says the weather service has been temporarily assigning employees to field offices around the country to cover staff shortages.

She says the announcement of the new hires is an admission by the administration that the job cuts went too far. “We’re in the middle of a severe weather season, and I know that’s put quite a strain on the system,” she says, noting that it’s also the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season. “It’s not a good time to be understaffed.”

Cei says the Trump administration granted the weather service an exemption to a government-wide hiring freeze and it will begin advertising for “permanent, mission-critical field positions.”

Glackin says, from her experience, filling positions at NOAA can take months. She expects it will be September at the earliest before many of the positions are filled. And she notes, after the cuts earlier this year, NWS is short several hundred positions. She says, “This is kind of putting a band-aid on a rather large wound.”

Fahy says he expects that many of the approximately 100 probationary NWS employees terminated in the Trump administration job cuts may reapply for the positions, some of which they may have already been trained and certified for.

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Uber has appointed its first chief operating officer since 2019, as chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi shakes up senior leadership and loosens his grip on the ride-hailing company.

Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s head of mobility, has been appointed president and chief operating officer with immediate effect, according to public filings. He will be the company’s second-in-command, responsible for overseeing the mobility and food delivery sides of the business.

Macdonald, who joined Uber in 2012 and is known by colleagues as Mac, will report directly to Khosrowshahi. He will take charge of the company’s autonomous business as well as its membership service.

“This is a natural next step in our evolution as a company, as we drive growth by increasing engagement across our entire platform,” said Khosrowshahi. “Mac has proven himself as a highly effective leader at Uber, and I’m thrilled for him to step into this important new role.”

The reorganisation comes as Uber seeks to become a leading platform for a variety of services, including restaurant bookings and retail, while improving co-ordination across its core food and ride-hailing businesses. It also aims to become the platform of choice for autonomous vehicles.

Khosrowshahi reassured Uber employees that he was not planning to leave the business, according to an internal memo. “I recognise the change might prompt some questions about my future, so I’ll be clear: I have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon,” he wrote.

Macdonald’s promotion means Khosrowshahi will pare back some of his day-to-day responsibilities. It will mean that the Uber chief does not have to be the final decision maker on all critical business decisions, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Newly appointed heads of mobility and delivery will report to Macdonald alongside a new head of autonomous mobility and delivery. Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber’s head of delivery, also announced on Monday his departure after nearly 13 years in post.

A former Uber executive told the Financial Times that it was unclear what Khosrowshahi could do next if he were to move on from his current post.

The Uber chief has been in post since 2017, when he replaced co-founder Travis Kalanick. Khosrowshahi joined Uber from Expedia when the ride-hailing company was mired in allegations of sexual harassment. He led Uber to its first annual operating profit in 2023 and repeated the feat last year.

“Dara is the hardest-working person on the planet. My one criticism is that he runs everything and has a lot of direct reports,” the former executive said. “No other company would give him that amount of control.”

Macdonald will relocate from Toronto to New York, where many of the company’s leadership are based, including Khosrowshahi. He will receive $5mn in stock subject to time and performance objectives.

This article has been amended to reflect that Macdonald will relocate to New York, from Toronto.