Trump vs Musk: President warns Tesla CEO of ‘very serious consequences’ if he backs Democrats

US President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Elon Musk, threatening “serious consequences” if the tech billionaire chooses to support Democratic candidates in retaliation against Republicans who back the GOP’s budget bill.Speaking to NBC News in a telephonic interview on Saturday, Trump did not clarify what those consequences might be, but said, “If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” adding, “very serious consequences.”The confrontation came after a dramatic rift between the president and Musk, who was once one of Trump’s most prominent financial backers. Musk contributed more than $250 million to Trump’s 2024 campaign efforts and briefly served as head of the department of government efficiency during Trump’s term, where he oversaw extensive cuts across federal departments.But in recent days, the relationship has unravelled in public view. The fallout began with Musk criticising the House-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on his social platform X, arguing the GOP spending plan was unsustainable and would trigger an economic downturn. Responding to Musk’s criticism on Thursday he said, “I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill. I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.”Musk retaliated with a series of posts, many of them now deleted, including one calling for Trump’s impeachment and another reviving long-discussed allegations about Trump’s links to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.“That’s called ‘old news,’” Trump said on Saturday, dismissing the resurfaced claims. “Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it.”Asked whether he planned to repair his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Trump said curtly, “No,” and confirmed that he believed their relationship was effectively over, “I would assume so, yeah.”Trump added that he had “no intention” of speaking with Musk again. “I’m too busy doing other things,” he said.He also accused Musk of being “disrespectful to the office of the President,” stating, “You could not disrespect the office of the President.”Despite calls from conservative allies like Steve Bannon for federal scrutiny into Musk’s business dealings, Trump said he hadn’t discussed any such action. “It’s not something that’s on top of my mind right now,” he said.However, in a Truth Social post earlier this week, Trump did hint at possible retaliation, writing, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.”“I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”Despite the public feud, Trump struck an upbeat note about the GOP’s budget bill, expressing confidence it would pass the Senate by July 4. “The Republican Party has never been united like this before,” he said. “Actually, more so than it was three days ago.”