Niamh Shackleton
President Donald Trump is making his feelings towards Elon Musk very clear.
The duo, who were once close allies, are now at loggerheads following tech billionaire Musk's departure from the Trump administration.
Their fallout stems from Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' that includes more tax cuts for American citizens. Musk has since heavily criticised the legislation, which is currently on its way to the Senate having passed through the House of Republicans in recent days.
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And it doesn't look like the pair will be making up anytime soon. Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he has no plans to make 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."
"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."
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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.
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.
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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.
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"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'.