US billionaire Elon Musk has kicked up a storm by comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with Adolf Hitler in a tweet to support truckers protesting against stringent vaccine rules.

In responding to a tweet about Trudeau's government ordering banks to cut funding to the protesters, Musk posted a meme of a photo of Hitler, with "Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau" written above his head and "I had a budget" below it.

Musk, who has a phenomenal 74 million followers on Twitter, sent the tweet on Wednesday night but had deleted it by Thursday afternoon following an outrage over the comparison.

Tesla CEO Musk, had in January tweeted support for the Canadian truckers, who have brought the movement of traffic to a standstill by shutting down roads as part of their protest against the health policies pushed by Trudeau's government.

Musk is known for his outrageous comments and blunt assessments, but his comparison of Trudeau with the Nazi leader, who was responsible for the genocide of millions of Jews, was considered to have gone beyond all limits by many Twitter users.

"@elonmusk making a disgusting comparison of Trudeau to Hitler. Don't do this kind of stuff. You just look dumb," wrote @ElliotMalin.

The American Jewish Committee responded to Musk's tweet with a call for an immediate apology.

Canadian Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told Musk on Twitter that his comments were "quite frankly shocking".

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