President Trump issued a sharp warning to Elon Musk today, saying the billionaire would face “very serious consequences” if he began financially backing Democratic candidates, while expressing sorrow over Musk’s emotional state.
“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump said in a phone conversation with NBC News’ Kristen Welker.
“He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” Trump repeated, though he did not provide further details.
When Welker asked if there was anything else he wanted to share about the current situation, Trump responded plainly.
“No, not at all. We’re doing great,” Trump said. “The bill is great. It looks like we’re going to get it passed. Looks strongly like we’re going to get it passed.”
Trump expressed strong optimism that the bill in question would make it through the Senate before Independence Day.
Musk has recently gone on the offensive, criticizing Trump in a lengthy series of posts on X. He took issue with the large-scale spending measures in what he referred to as the “big beautiful bill,” and claimed Trump would not have succeeded in 2024 without his financial support.
The tech mogul also took credit for helping Republicans secure a 53–47 edge in the Senate and maintain control of the House of Representatives.
Campaign finance records show Musk gave over $250 million to Republican candidates during the 2024 election cycle.
His brief stint in the Trump administration, serving in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), ended just two days before his 130-day appointment concluded.
Despite the tension, Trump acknowledged that Musk’s criticism may have had an unexpected benefit.
“I think, actually, Elon brought out the strengths of the bill because people that weren’t as focused started focusing on it, and they see how good it is,” Trump said. “So in that sense, there was a big favor. But I think Elon, really, I think it’s a shame that he’s so depressed and so heartbroken.”
On Thursday, their public clash escalated further when Trump threatened to cancel billions of dollars in federal deals and subsidies awarded to Musk’s various companies. When Welker pressed him on whether he’d act on that threat, Trump replied, “I’d be allowed to do that,” and added, “but I have, I haven’t given it any thought.”
Musk retaliated online by accusing the president of blocking the release of sealed files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, suggesting that the contents might be damaging to Trump. He later deleted the post.
Both Trump and Epstein’s former attorney, David Schoen, have pushed back on the suggestion. Trump’s past interactions with Epstein in the 1990s have been publicly documented, and Schoen defended the president’s reputation.
“I was hired to lead Jeffrey Epstein’s defense as his criminal lawyer 9 days before he died,” Schoen wrote on X. “He sought my advice for months before that. I can say authoritatively, unequivocally, and definitively that he had no information to hurt President Trump. I specifically asked him!”
Trump, addressing the matter again today, dismissed the renewed focus on Epstein as recycled speculation.
“That’s called ‘old news,’ that’s been old news, that has been talked about for years,” he said.
Trump had previously banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in 2007 following an incident involving the daughter of a club member — a year before Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor.
Musk has gone as far as calling for Trump’s impeachment in the past, though many of those social media posts have since been erased, according to Fox News.
When asked whether the strained relationship could be repaired, Trump shut down the idea.
“No,” he said, adding, “I’m too busy doing other things,” and criticized Musk for being “disrespectful to the office of the President.”
Trump also said he had no plans to speak with Musk, even after reports emerged that Musk had attempted to deescalate tensions with a phone call, which the White House ultimately declined.
The reconciliation bill remains under Senate review, following its earlier passage in the House.
The proposal includes a permanent extension of Trump’s 2017 tax reforms, increased funding for border security and national defense, and a rollback of green-energy tax benefits established under Joe Biden’s reconciliation legislation.
According to projections from the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would raise the national deficit by nearly $3 trillion, though Trump maintains full confidence in its approval by July 4.
“The Republican Party has never been united like this before. It’s never been. It’s actually more so than it was three days ago,” he told Welker.
Musk, for his part, had pushed for $1 trillion in federal spending cuts but stepped down after managing to secure only about $175 billion in reductions.
Those cuts were left out of the current bill, but lawmakers expect some of the savings to be included in future rescission packages. One such measure, which would defund NPR and PBS, has already been introduced in the House.
Though he has become a major Republican donor, Musk previously supported Democrats. As recently as 2018, he gave tens of thousands to Democratic House candidates, and in 2020 he maxed out donations to Senate campaigns for Chris Coons, Gary Peters, and Jeanne Shaheen.
{Matzav.com}