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United States President Donald Trump has stated that his relationship with billionaire donor Elon Musk has ended, cautioning that there would be “serious consequences” should Musk decide to financially support US Democrats opposing Republicans who back the president’s comprehensive tax and spending bill.
In a nighttime phone interview with NBC News, Trump refrained from specifying what these consequences might entail and also mentioned that he had not engaged in discussions regarding a potential investigation into Musk.
When questioned about whether he considered his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to be finished, Trump responded, “I would assume so, yeah.”
“No,” stated Trump to NBC when inquired if he wished to mend his relationship with Musk.
“I have no intention of speaking to him,” Trump asserted.
However, Trump said he had not thought about terminating US government contracts with Musk’s StarLink satellite internet or SpaceX rocket launch companies.
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 last month and is now before the Senate, where Trump’s fellow Republicans are considering making changes. Nonpartisan analysts estimate the measure would add US$2.4 trillion ($3.7 trillion) to the US$36.2 trillion ($55.8 trillion) debt over 10 years, which worries many lawmakers, including some Republicans who are fiscal hawks.
Musk also declared it was time for a new political party in the US “to represent the 80% in the middle!”
Trump told NBC he is confident the bill would get passed by the US’ 4 July 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,” Trump said.
Since embarking on his second presidential term on January 20, Republicans have shown strong support for Trump’s initiatives. Although some Republican legislators have voiced concerns to the media regarding certain choices made by Trump, they have yet to reject any of his policies or official appointees.
Deleted social media posts
Musk appears to have deleted some social media posts critical of Trump, including one that signalled support for impeaching the president, appearing to seek a de-escalation of their public feud. During his first term as president, the House, then controlled by Democrats, twice voted to impeach Trump but the Senate both times acquitted him.
The White House and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday AEST on the deleted posts.
One of the deleted X posts by Musk was his response to another user’s query: “President vs Elon. Who wins? My money’s on Elon. Trump should be impeached and (Vice President) JD Vance should replace him.” Musk had simply replied “yes.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, bankrolled a large part of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, spending nearly US$300 million ($462 million) in last year’s US elections and taking credit for Republicans retaining a majority of seats in the House and retaking a majority in the Senate.
Trump named 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.
Musk cut only about half of one per cent of total spending, far short of his brash plans to axe US$2 trillion ($3 trillion) from the federal budget.
