US President Donald Trump has warned of “very serious consequences” if his former friend Elon Musk funds Democrats to run against Republicans who vote for his centrepiece bill.
“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview on Sunday (AEST).
Trump also accused Musk of being “disrespectful” to the office of the president, which was a “very bad thing”.
When asked if he wanted to repair his relationship with the Tesla chief, Trump responded “no”, confirming that he believed it was over.
“I would assume so, yeah,” he said.
“I’m too busy doing other things. I have no intention of speaking to him.”
Trump did not detail what consequences Musk could face but said he had not given any real thought to cancelling the world’s richest man’s lucrative government contracts worth billions of dollars.
“I’d be allowed to do that,” he said, “but…I haven’t given it any thought.”
Musk runs electric vehicle maker Tesla, internet company Starlink and rocket company SpaceX.
Trump responded to calls to investigate Musk’s business dealings and immigration record, telling NBC News: “I mean it’s not something that’s on top of my mind right now.”
It was triggered by Musk lambasting Trump’s centrepiece tax cuts and spending bill.
Musk suggested Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president’s association with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
But by Saturday Musk had quietly deleted the Epstein post and shifted the focus of his posts on X to his businesses.
Trump said the Epstein allegations were “old news”.
“That’s been old news; that has been talked about for years,” said Trump. “Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it. It’s old news.”
Trump said he believed Musk’s outbursts had united the Republican Party behind the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and he was “very confident” it would pass the Senate before July 4.
“The Republican Party has never been united like this before. It’s never been. It’s actually more so than it was three days ago,” Trump said.
“I think, actually, Elon brought out the strengths of the bill because people that weren’t as focused started focusing on it, and they see how good it is,” Trump said.
“So in that sense, there was a big favor. But I think Elon, really, I think it’s a shame that he’s so depressed and so heartbroken.”
Vance downplays row
US Vice President JD Vance said Musk was making a “huge mistake” going after Trump also tried to downplay Musk’s blistering attacks as an “emotional guy” who got frustrated.
“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance said in a podcast interview released after the very public blowup.
Vance’s comments come as other Republicans in recent days have urged the two men, who months ago were close allies spending significant time together, to mend fences.
“Look, it happens to everybody,” Vance said in the interview with comedian Theo Von.
“I’ve flown off the handle way worse than Elon Musk did in the last 24 hours.”
Vance told Von that as Musk for days was calling on social media for the US Congress to kill Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” the president was “getting a little frustrated, feeling like some of the criticisms were unfair coming from Elon, but I think has been very restrained because the president doesn’t think that he needs to be in a blood feud with Elon Musk”.
“I actually think if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine,” he added.
The interview was recording on Thursday as Musk’s posts were unfurling on X, the social media network the billionaire owns.
During the interview, Von showed the vice president Musk’s claim that Trump’s administration hasn’t released all the records related to sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them.
Vance responded to that, saying “Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein”.
“This stuff is just not helpful,” Vance said in response to another post shared by Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance.
“It’s totally insane. The president is doing a good job.”
Vance called Musk an “incredible entrepreneur” and said that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to cut government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was “really good”.
The vice president also defended the bill that has drawn Musk’s ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Trump’s first term.
Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it a “disgusting abomination”.
“It’s a good bill,” Vance said.
“It’s not a perfect bill.”
-with AAP
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