DONALD Trump called Elon Musk a “big-time drug addict” as his spat with the world’s richest man intensified.

The US President is said to have blasted his billionaire ex-backer as reliant on ketamine in phone calls.

It came after the Tesla billionaire linked Mr Trump to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Their feud went public on Thursday night as both men used their own social media platforms — X and Truth Social — to insult each other.

Mr Musk, 53, turned on the US leader, calling his Congressional spending bill a “disgusting abomination” on Wednesday.

The President, 78, has called it his “big, beautiful bill”, but Mr Musk believes it will increase national debt by an unsustainable amount.

It triggered the ugly public bust-up, with Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and accusing him of being a close associate of Epstein.

Yesterday, Mr Musk deleted the post, which was seen hundreds of millions of times.

The Washington Post revealed that Mr. Trump privately advised his supporters to refrain from escalating the situation and cautioned Vice President JD Vance to approach with care during phone conversations.

But the President, whose campaign took £250million from Mr Musk, is also said to have become weary with the tycoon’s alleged drug use.

He called Mr Musk an “addict” in the calls and claimed he “lost his mind” after leaving the administration.

The businessman previously admitted using ketamine, but it is alleged he became so hooked last year it affected his kidneys.

Mr Musk officially left the government last week but said he would remain as a “friend and adviser” to Mr Trump.

The President last night said he had “no intention” of speaking to Mr Musk, adding: “I think it’s a very bad thing because he’s very disrespectful”.