President Donald Trump said billionaire Elon Musk would face “serious consequences” if he threw his support behind Democrats running against Republican backers of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
Trump issued the threat in a phone interview with NBC on Saturday, where he also noted he has no intention of speaking to Musk after their public falling out. The president said he “would assume” the relationship between the two is over.
“I’m too busy doing other things,” he told NBC. “I have no intention of speaking to him.”
“I think it’s a very bad thing, because he’s very disrespectful. You could not disrespect the office of the president,” he added.
Trump and Musk engaged in a very heated war of words Thursday that stemmed from their differing views over Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” Musk recently left his position in the federal government and ramped up his criticism of the legislation, which he has called the “Big Ugly Bill” and a “disgusting abomination.”
Trump told NBC Musk’s insults were actually a “big favor” because it got people to focus on the bill and “see how good it is.”
“But I think Elon, really, I think it’s a shame that he’s so depressed and so heartbroken,” Trump said.
Trump previously threatened to take away Musk’s government contracts amid the billionaire’s criticisms, but told NBC Saturday he hadn’t considered the idea further. White House officials told several outlets Trump also planned to get rid of the red Tesla Model S he bought in March during an event outside the White House with Musk, who is the CEO of the car company.
Musk responded to Trump’s initial threat by suggesting the administration had withheld the release of some files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein because Trump had been named in them. Musk also endorsed a message that Trump should be impeached and replaced by Vice President JD Vance.
During a podcast interview, Vance called Musk’s attacks against Trump a “huge mistake,” and said it was “totally insane” to suggest he should replace Trump as president.