Trump says Musk relationship over, warns of ‘serious consequences’ if he funds Democrats
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US President Donald Trump (left) told NBC News he had no desire to repair his relationship with billionaire Elon Musk.
PHOTO: AFP
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BEDMINSTER, New Jersey – Mr Donald Trump said on June 7 his relationship with his billionaire donor Elon Musk is over and warned there would be “serious consequences” if Mr Musk funds US Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the President’s sweeping tax and spending Bill.
In a telephone interview with NBC News, Mr Trump declined to say what those consequences would be, and went on to add that he had not had discussions about whether to investigate Mr Musk.
Asked if he thought his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive officer was over, Mr Trump said: “I would assume so, yeah.”
“No,” Mr Trump told NBC, when asked if he had any desire to repair his relationship with Mr Musk.
“I have no intention of speaking to him,” Mr Trump said.
However, Mr Trump said he had not thought about terminating US government contracts with Mr Musk’s Starlink satellite internet or SpaceX rocket launch companies.
Mr Musk and Mr Trump began exchanging insults a “disgusting abomination”.
Mr 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 in May and is now before the Senate, where Mr Trump’s fellow Republicans are considering making changes.
Non-partisan analysts estimate the measure would add US$2.4 trillion (S$3 trillion) to the US$36.2 trillion US debt over 10 years, which worries many lawmakers, including some Republicans who are fiscal hawks.
Mr Musk also declared it was time for a new political party in the United States “to represent the 80 per cent in the middle!”
Mr Trump said on June 7 he is confident the Bill would get passed by the US July 4 Independence Day holiday.
“In fact, yeah, people that were, were going to vote for it are now enthusiastically going to vote for it, and we expect it to pass,” Mr Trump told NBC.
Republicans have strongly backed Mr Trump’s initiatives since he began his second term as president on Jan 20. While some Republican lawmakers have made comments to the news media expressing concern about some of Mr Trump’s choices, they have yet to vote down any of his policies or nominations.
Deleted Musk posts
Mr Musk has deleted some social media posts critical of Mr Trump, including one that signalled support for impeaching the president, appearing to seek a de-escalation of their public feud, which exploded on June 5. During his first term as president, the House, then controlled by Democrats, twice voted to impeach Mr Trump but the Senate both times acquitted him.
The White House and Mr Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment on June 7 on the deleted posts.
People who have spoken to Mr Musk said his anger has begun to recede and they thought he would want to repair his relationship with Mr Trump. One of the X posts that Mr Musk appeared to have deleted was a response to another user posting: “President vs Elon. Who wins? My money’s on Elon. Mr Trump should be impeached and (Vice-President) J.D. Vance should replace him.”
Mr Musk had written “yes.”
On Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast – recorded on June 5 as the feud between Mr Trump and Mr Musk unfolded and released on June 7 – Mr Vance called Mr Musk’s criticism of Mr Trump a “huge mistake”.
“I’m always going to be loyal to the President, and I hope that eventually Elon kind of comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear. But I hope it is,” said Mr Vance, describing Mr Musk as an “incredible entrepreneur”.
Mr Trump is due to attend an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card on June 7 in New Jersey. Since his second election win, he has attended two previous UFC mixed martial arts fight cards with Mr Musk. Mr Musk is not expected to attend on June 7.
Mr Musk, the world’s richest man, bankrolled a large part of Mr Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, spending nearly US$300 million in 2024’s US elections and taking credit for Republicans retaining a majority of seats in the House and retaking a majority in the Senate.
Mr Trump named Mr 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, or Doge. Mr Musk cut only about half of 1 per cent of total spending, far short of his brash plans to axe US$2 trillion from the federal budget. REUTERS
