Trump and Musk Feud Escalates Over Tax Bill Fallout
President Donald Trump is making his stance on Elon Musk crystal clear.
Once considered close allies, the former president and the tech billionaire are now publicly at odds following Musk’s departure from Trump’s administration.
The rift centers around Trump’s proposed “big, beautiful bill,” which includes sweeping tax cuts for American citizens. Musk has since been a vocal critic of the legislation, which recently passed through the Republican-controlled House and is now headed to the Senate.
And any hopes of reconciliation appear slim. In a phone interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Trump stated bluntly that he has no intention of making up with Musk.
Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX was over, Trump responded: “I would assume so, yeah.”
Things are heating up between Donald Trump and Elon Musk (ALEX WROBLEWSKI,ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images)
“I’m too busy doing other things,” Trump continued. “You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him [Musk] a lot of breaks, long before this happened, I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him.”
Now, Trump has threatened ‘serious consequences’ for Musk if he does this one thing: help fund future Democratic campaigns.
“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told NBC, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Musk’s businesses have many lucrative federal contracts.
Trump has threatened ‘serious consequences’ for Musk if he helps the Democrats (ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images)
The US President’s latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies.
As a major government contractor, Musk’s businesses could be particularly vulnerable to retribution. Trump has already threatened to cut Musk’s contracts, calling it an easy way to save money.
While Trump has been slating Musk, his vice president JD Vance has only had nice things to say about the tech mogul.
In an interview, Vance tried to downplay the feud. He said Musk was making a ‘huge mistake’ going after Trump, but called him an ’emotional guy’ who was becoming frustrated.
JD Vance has only had nice things to say about Musk (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance added.
Vance went on to call Musk an ‘incredible entrepreneur’ and said that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sought to cut US government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was ‘really good’.
