donald Trump said on Saturday that his relationship with billionaire donor Elon Musk is over and warned of “serious consequences” if Musk funds the U.S.
Democrats are running against Republicans who voted for the president’s sweeping tax and spending bill.
In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to say the consequences and added that he had not discussed whether to investigate Musk.
When asked if he thought his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was over, Trump said, “I would assume so, yeah.”
“No,” Trump told NBC when asked if he wanted to repair his relationship with Musk.
“I have no intention of speaking to him,” Trump said.
However, Trump said he had not considered terminating U.S. government contracts with Musk’s StarLink satellite internet or SpaceX rocket launch companies.
Musk and Trump began exchanging insults this week, as Musk denounced Trump’s bill as a “disgusting abomination.”
Musk’s opposition to the measure complicated efforts to pass the legislation in Congress, where Republicans hold only slim majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate.
The bill narrowly passed the House last month and is now before the Senate, where Trump’s fellow Republicans are considering making changes.
Nonpartisan analysts estimate the measure would add $2.4 trillion to the $36.2 trillion U.S. debt over 10 years, which worries many lawmakers, including some Republicans who are fiscal hawks.
Musk also declared it was time for a new political party in the United States “to represent the 80 per cent in the middle!”
Trump said on Saturday he is confident the bill would get passed by the U.S. July 4 Independence Day holiday.
“In fact, yeah, people who were going to vote for it are now enthusiastically going to vote for it, and we expect it to pass,” Trump told NBC.
Republicans have strongly backed Trump’s initiatives since he began his second presidential term on Jan. 20.
While some Republican lawmakers have commented to the news media expressing concern about Trump’s choices, they have yet to vote down any of his policies or nominations.
Musk has deleted some social media posts critical of Trump, including one that signalled support for impeaching the president, appearing to seek a de-escalation of their public feud, which exploded on Thursday.
During his first term as president, the House, then controlled by Democrats, twice voted to impeach Trump, but the Senate both times acquitted him.
The White House and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the deleted posts on Saturday.
People who have spoken to Musk said his anger has begun to recede, and they think he wants to repair his relationship with Trump.
One of the X posts that Musk appeared to have deleted was a response to another user’s posting: “President vs. Elon. Who wins? My money’s on Elon. Trump should be impeached, and (Vice President) JD Vance should replace him.” Musk had written, “Yes.”
On Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast – recorded on Thursday as the feud between Trump and Musk unfolded and released on Saturday – Vance called Musk’s criticism of Trump a “huge mistake.”
“I’m always going to be loyal to the president, and I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. That may not be possible now because he’s gone so nuclear.
But I hope it is,” said Vance, describing Musk as an “incredible entrepreneur.”
Trump will attend an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card on Saturday in New Jersey.
Since his second election win, he has attended two previous UFC mixed martial arts fight cards with Musk. Musk is not expected to attend on Saturday.
Musk, the world’s richest man, bankrolled a large part of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, spending nearly 300 million dollars in last year’s U.S. elections and taking credit for Republicans retaining a majority of seats in the House and retaking a majority in the Senate.
Trump named Musk to head an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending, lauding him at the White House only about a week ago for his work as head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk cut only about half of one percent of total spending, far short of his brash plans to axe two trillion dollars from the federal budget.
