House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed that a lengthy text he sent Elon Musk amid his feud with President Donald Trump earlier in 2025 was delivered “into the ether” after the tech billionaire allegedly changed his cell phone number after spatting with the president. 

“I sent him a long text message, and then his phone number changed, because after the blow-up, something happened with his …” Johnson, R-La., told New York Post columnist Miranda Devine on her podcast published Wednesday before trailing off that he realized the number was no longer a direct line to Musk. 

“I got the number later and realized I was sending it out into the ether somewhere and he never read it,” he continued. “So I look forward to meeting with him in person. We got to make that right. I’ve got nothing against Elon, obviously. I’ve got great respect for what he’s done.”

High-profile individuals such as celebrities and billionaires are known to frequently change their cell phone numbers out of privacy and security concerns. 

Johnson said that before the spat, he had met with and sent other “long text messages” to keep Musk in the loop on the big, beautiful bill. 

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Musk and Trump’s previously tight relationship fell to tatters in May, as Trump promoted the passage of his One Big, Beautiful Bill Act. Musk served as the public leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, which works to strip the federal government of overspending, corruption and mismanagement, as a special government employee — a job position that permits an individual to work for the federal government for “no more than 130 days in a 365-day period.”

Musk’s tenure ran dry at the end of May, and was shortly followed by the tech billionaire behind massive companies such as SpaceX and Tesla launching a campaign on X in an attempt to rally Republican lawmakers to vote against the legislation, slamming it for increasing the U.S. debt ceiling by $5 trillion. 

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Trump argued Musk publicly condemning the legislation was actually rooted in the president axing electric vehicle mandates and subsidies, which impacts Musk’s Tesla company. On June 12, Trump signed a trio of congressional resolutions ending California’s restrictive rules for diesel engines and mandates on electric vehicle sales, with Trump celebrating that his signature “will kill the California mandates forever.”

Elon Musk has since said he intends to launch a new political party to counter Republicans and Democrats. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Musk has since said he intends to launch a new political party to counter Republicans and Democrats. 

Johnson continued in his interview on Devine’s podcast that he did get a response back from Musk through a third-party after realizing the tech billionaire had seemingly changed his phone number. 

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Johnson said “a multitude of factors” likely caused the rift, but that Musk was aware of the contents in the big, beautiful bill before its final stages this spring and summer after months of lawmakers ironing out provisions in the legislation. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans celebrated passing Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” (Getty Images)

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“But clearly, (Musk) got unhappy in a very short period of time,” Johnson said. “I mean, he generally knew what we were doing, and we talked about it. I mean, he knew for months, many months we worked on this, and I was keeping him apprised of it.”

“But I’ll let other people judge that,” he added. “I’ve got to keep my eyes on the prize and keep going forward, and I’m trying to be a peacemaker in all of it.” 

Trump signed the legislation into law on the Fourth of July, touting that its tax cuts will make the U.S. economy similar to a “rocket ship” as Americans begin feeling its effects. 

Fox News Digital attempted to reach Musk, as well as emailed Johnson’s office, for additional comment on the matter, but did not immediately receive replies. 

Early this month, the U.S. military and masked federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and from Customs and Border Protection invaded a park near downtown Los Angeles — ironically, a park named after Gen. Douglas MacArthur. They came ready for battle, dressed in tactical gear and camouflage, with some arriving on horseback, while others rolled in on armored vehicles or patrolled above in Black Hawk helicopters. Although the invasion force failed to capture anyone, it did succeed in liberating the park from a group of children participating in a summer camp.

The MacArthur Park operation sounds like a scene from “South Park,” but it really did happen — and its implications are terrifying. As Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol agent in charge, said to Fox News: “Better get used to us now, ’cause this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.” And President Trump is sending the same message to every Democratic governor and mayor in America who dares oppose him. He will send heavily armed federal forces wherever he wants, whenever he wants and for any reason.

The United States stands at the threshold of an authoritarian breakthrough, and Congress and the courts have given Trump a lot of tools. He’s learned from Jan. 6, 2021, that he needs tight control over the “guys with the guns,” as retired Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley put it. And that’s what he got when Congress dutifully confirmed Trump loyalists to lead all of the “power ministries” — the military, the FBI and the Department of Justice, the rest of the intelligence community and the Department of Homeland Security.

As commander in chief, the president can deploy troops and, under Title 10, he can also put National Guard troops under his command — even against the wishes of local officials. Gov. Gavin Newsom challenged the legality of Trump’s exercise of this authority in Los Angeles last month, and we will see what the courts say — but based on its initial rulings, the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit appears likely to defer to the president. Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the troops cannot currently enforce laws, but Trump could change that by invoking the Insurrection Act, and we have to assume that the current Supreme Court would defer to him on that as well, following long-standing precedents saying the president’s power under the act is “conclusive.”

Trump could send the military into other cities, but the most dangerous weapon in his authoritarian arsenal might be the newly empowered Department of Homeland Security, which has been given $170 billion by Congress to triple the size of ICE and double its detention capacity.

No doubt, this will put Trump’s “mass deportation” into overdrive, but this is not just about immigration. Remember Portland in 2020, when Trump sent Border Patrol agents into the city? Against the wishes of the Oregon governor and the Portland mayor, the president deployed agents to protect federal buildings and suppress unrest after the killing of George Floyd. Under the Homeland Security Act, the secretary can designate any employee of the department to assist the Federal Protective Service in safeguarding government property and carrying out “such other activities for the promotion of homeland security as the Secretary may prescribe.”

Under that law, DHS officers can also make arrests, on and off of federal property, for “any offense against the United States.” This is why, in 2020, Border Patrol agents — dressed like soldiers and equipped with M-4 semi-automatic rifles — were able to rove around Portland in unmarked black SUVs and arrest people off the streets anywhere in the city. Trump could do this again anywhere in the country, and with the billions Congress has given to immigration and border agencies, DHS could assemble and deploy a formidable federal paramilitary force wherever and whenever Trump wishes.

Of course, under the 4th Amendment, officers need to have at least reasonable suspicion based on specific, articulable facts before they can stop and question someone, and probable cause before they arrest. And on Friday, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE and Customs and Border Protection from making such stops without reasonable suspicion, and further holding that this could not be based on apparent race or ethnicity; speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent; presence at a particular location, such as a Home Depot parking lot; or the type of work a person does. This ruling could end up providing an important constitutional restraint on these agencies, but we shall see. The Trump administration has appealed the ruling.

However, this litigation proceeds, it is important to note that the DHS agencies are not like the FBI, with its buttoned-down, by-the-book culture drilled into it historically and in response to the revelations of J. Edgar Hoover’s abuses of power. DHS and its agencies have no such baggage, and they clearly have been pushing the envelope in Los Angeles — sometimes brutally — over the last month. And even if Frimpong’s ruling stands up on appeal, ICE and Customs and Border Protection will no doubt adapt by training their officers to articulate other justifications for stopping people on the street or in workplaces. Ultimately, these agencies are used to operating near the border, where, in the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s words, the federal government’s power is “at its zenith,” and where there are far fewer constitutional constraints on their actions.

These are the tools at Trump’s disposal — and as DHS rushes to hire thousands of agents and build the detention facilities Congress just paid for, these tools will only become more formidable. And one should anticipate that Trump will want to deploy the DHS paramilitary forces to “protect” the 2026 or 2028 elections, alongside federal troops, in the same way they worked together to capture MacArthur Park.

A fanciful, dystopian scenario? Maybe, but who or what would stop it from happening? Congress does not seem willing to stand up to the president — and while individual federal judges might, the Supreme Court seems more likely to defer to him, especially on issues concerning national security or immigration. So, in the words of Bruce Springsteen, “the last check on power, after the checks and balances of government have failed, are the people, you and me.” Suit up.

Seth Stodder served in the Obama administration as assistant secretary of Homeland Security for borders, immigration and trade and previously as assistant secretary for threat prevention and security. He teaches national security and counterterrorism law at USC Law School.