The political alliance between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk appears to have fully unraveled, with the former issuing a blunt warning that Musk could face “serious consequences” if he backs Democrats in the upcoming elections.
In a phone interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Trump made it clear he has no plans to reconcile with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. Asked whether their relationship was finished, Trump replied, “I would assume so, yeah.”
“I’m too busy doing other things,” he added. “You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him 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.”
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The feud escalated rapidly after Musk criticized Trump’s flagship economic proposal dubbed the “big beautiful bill”, calling it a “disgusting abomination” and warning it would balloon the national deficit. Trump fired back from the Oval Office, and the disagreement soon spilled onto social media in a series of increasingly personal exchanges between the two men.
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Musk, who has extensive government contracts through his various companies, could be vulnerable if Trump acts on threats to retaliate. The U.S. president has previously floated cutting Musk’s federal contracts, calling them an easy way to save taxpayer money.
Speaking about the possibility that Musk might support Democratic candidates in 2026, Trump warned: “If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that.” He declined to elaborate on what those consequences might be.
The falling-out has shocked political observers, given Musk’s past support for Trump and his former role as a prominent business ally. But this week, the relationship took a darker turn as Musk escalated his attacks, even going so far as to call for Trump’s impeachment and posting without evidence, allegations about the government covering up Trump’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk’s Epstein-related posts appeared to have been deleted by Saturday morning.
Vice President JD Vance stepped into the fray in an attempt to cool tensions. Speaking in an interview with comedian and Trump surrogate Theo Von, Vance dismissed Musk’s attacks as emotionally driven missteps.
“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance said. Still, he praised Musk, calling him an “incredible entrepreneur” and credited his leadership of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency for cutting waste and reducing federal headcount.
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The interview, taped Thursday at a Nashville restaurant owned by musician and Trump ally Kid Rock, according to an AP report, was recorded as Musk’s controversial posts were still live on X, the social media platform he owns. During the taping, Von read aloud one of Musk’s most inflammatory claims that Trump’s administration withheld Epstein-related records to protect him.
Vance firmly pushed back: “Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.”
When shown Musk’s post advocating for Trump’s impeachment and Vance’s own elevation, the vice president replied: “It’s totally insane. The president is doing a good job.”
He also defended the budget bill that sparked Musk’s criticism, clarifying that its primary purpose was to preserve Trump-era tax cuts enacted in 2017. The legislation, while projected to slash federal spending and extend tax breaks, would leave an estimated 10.9 million Americans without health insurance and add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
“It’s a good bill,” JD Vance said. “It’s not a perfect bill.”
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