President Donald Trump on Saturday warned that Elon Musk could face "very serious consequences" if the Tesla and SpaceX CEO follows through on threats to fund Democratic candidates opposing Republicans who support the administration's sweeping budget legislation. The warning comes amid an intensifying public feud between the president and the billionaire, which has veered from policy disputes into personal accusations.
"If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that," Trump said in an NBC News interview, adding, "He'll have to pay very serious consequences." When pressed for details, Trump declined to elaborate. Asked if he had any intention of mending his relationship with Musk, the president replied, "No," and confirmed, "I would assume so, yeah," when asked if the relationship was over.
The president's comments followed a series of now-deleted posts by Musk on X, including one alleging without evidence that Trump was named in sealed Epstein files. Another deleted post saw Musk endorse calls for Trump's impeachment and replacement by Vice President JD Vance. Trump dismissed the Epstein allegation as "old news" and pointed to a statement from Epstein's former lawyer, David Schoen, who wrote: "I can say authoritatively, unequivocally, and definitively that he had no information to hurt President Trump."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Musk's claims by stating, "This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted." The administration maintains that Musk's accusations are unsubstantiated and politically motivated.
The rift between Trump and Musk deepened after the president criticized Musk's opposition to the GOP-led budget plan. "I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill," Trump said on Thursday. Musk, who previously led the Department of Government Efficiency, has condemned the bill as fiscally reckless and criticized the elimination of electric vehicle subsidies.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts." On Saturday, Trump confirmed he hadn't yet taken action on that threat but said, "I'd be allowed to do that."
Trump also brushed off calls by some allies, including Steve Bannon, to launch a federal investigation into Musk's business practices. "It's not something that's on top of my mind right now," he told NBC.
Despite the public rift, Trump claimed the controversy has energized Republican support for the legislation. "The Republican Party has never been united like this before," he said, adding that Musk's criticism actually "brought out the strengths of the bill." Trump further stated, "I think Elon, really, I think it's a shame that he's so depressed and so heartbroken."
Musk, who donated more than $250 million to Trump's 2024 campaign and was appointed by the administration to lead federal workforce cuts, resigned in May 2025 amid rising tensions over fiscal policy and market backlash. Tesla stock fell 14% following Trump's threats to terminate federal contracts with Musk's companies.
Vice President JD Vance, when asked about Musk's attacks in an interview with comedian Theo Von, described the tech CEO as an "emotional guy" and called his behavior "a huge mistake," while attempting to downplay the situation.
