Elon Musk’s former partner and the mother of his son, Romulus, recently claimed that the trillionaire is threatening to sue United States Representative Ro Khanna “out of pure spite,” after he alleged that Musk’s budget cuts at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) led to possible child deaths.
For those uninformed, Ro Khanna recently criticized Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying Musk needed to answer for what he did with the department and alleged that DOGE’s move to dismantle USAID possibly sentenced 4.5 million children around the world to death. In March 2025, Musk’s DOGE moved to dismantle USAID as part of its large-scale federal spending cuts.
On June 22, Elon Musk quote-tweeted a New York Post article about Ro Khanna’s remarks and wrote, “Time to sue this liar.” Following this, Ashley St. Clair, Musk’s former partner, took to social media to share her views on Musk’s recent X post in which he threatened to sue Khanna.
She included screenshots of multiple publications, including the New York Times, reporting about Elon Musk’s USAID shutdown, and pointed out that Musk never took any legal actions against them. She further suggested that the newly minted trillionaire wanted to sue Khanna out of “pure spite,” saying:
“He’s trying to sue Ro Khanna, one of the only people trying to hold billionaires accountable, for saying something that has been said by major figures and major outlets for over a year now, and not one of them did Elon threaten to sue… The only reason to sue over something like this is out of pure spite.”
What did Ro Khanna say about Elon Musk and USAID?
On June 20, Ro Khanna appeared on the I’ve Had It podcast, where he discussed Elon Musk‘s budget cuts and DOGE’s move to dismantle USAID. The United States representative called for Musk to take accountability for playing a part in the possible deaths of millions of children around the world and claimed that he should be subpoenaed and investigated, saying:
“I do believe once we take power, there needs to be accountability. There needs to be accountability for Elon Musk. You know, they’re celebrating that he created 4,400 millionaires, but they don’t talk about the 4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID… He needs to answer for that. He needs to be subpoenaed. He needs to face investigation. He needs to answer for what he did with DOGE. It’s not just ‘let’s move on.’”
Elon Musk responded to Khanna’s comments on his social media platform X, calling the representative a robber and threatening to sue him. In one X post, he detailed the process DOGE underwent to decide recipients of the aid, alleging that the money most often went to “corrupt politicians under the guise of aid.” He also added, “Liars and stock insider traders like Ro the Robber should be in prison!!”
In another X post, which is now his pinned post, Musk called Khanna’s claim a “total lie” and alleged that many people from USAID “have been charged by the Justice Department with stealing money.”
“Absolutely. This is a total lie. All DOGE did was require contact with the aid recipients to confirm that funds were being used legitimately. Anything less than this is insane! Multiple people from USAID have been charged by the Justice Department with stealing money. Moreover, they pled GUILTY!!” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Ro Khanna responded to an X post of Elon Musk calling him an “evil liar,” and urged him to pay the 5% tax “instead of hurling random insults.”
Additionally, Ro Khanna also challenged Musk to a televised debate when he appeared on CNBC on June 22. Khanna said he was ready to engage with the trillionaire about wealth tax, adding that he was open to a “conversation of ideas if he believes in free speech and free expression about these issues.”
On June 12, Forbes announced that Elon Musk was the world’s first trillionaire and estimated his net worth to be around $1.1 trillion.
Edited by Juhi Marzia