(The Hill) — President Trump on Saturday said tech billionaire Elon Musk will face “serious consequences” if he moves to support Democratic political candidates in any upcoming elections, following a public rift between the two in recent days.
In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said Musk “will have to pay the consequences” if he backs opponents to GOP lawmakers who support the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” he told the outlet.
The president’s remarks comes after he signaled his bromance with Musk is over as a tiff about the GOP megabill spiraled into an all-out brawl on social media. Musk went so far as to allege that Trump is named in the Jeffrey Epstein files, backed a call for impeachment and suggested he would have lost the presidential election without his support.
Trump in response threatened to cancel federal government contracts for Musk’s companies while calling the Tesla and SpaceX CEO “crazy.”
Prior to the implosion of the duo’s relationship, the tech mogul indicated he would roll back his political spending in upcoming elections.
“In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk said last month.
“If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it,” he added. “I do not currently see a reason.”
The billionaire became one of the most powerful forces in U.S. politics after he threw his support behind Trump’s reelection bid last summer, spending at least $250 million.
He soon became a central figure in the White House as he advised the Department of Government Efficiency and the administration’s efforts to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. Musk left the administration late last month as he voiced opposition to the House-crafted GOP spending bill over its potential impact on the national debt.
When asked by NBC on Saturday if the president intends to reconcile with Musk, Trump replied in the negative. But he reiterated his confidence in his budget bill despite some GOP concerns in the upper chamber.
“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, stating Musk’s outburst benefited his push to get the bill passed before July 4.
“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,” the president added. “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.”
Some of Musk’s social media posts that intensified the feud on Thursday have since been deleted.
