Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump threatened his former advisor Elon Musk with "serious consequences" Saturday if the tech billionaire seeks to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill.
The comments by Trump to NBC News come after the relationship between the world's most powerful person and the world's richest imploded in bitter and spectacular fashion this week.
The blistering break-up -- largely carried out on social media before a riveted public on Thursday -- was ignited by Musk's harsh criticism of Trump's so-called "big, beautiful" spending bill, which is currently before Congress.
Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Musk -- one of the Republican Party's biggest financial backers in last year's presidential election -- to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation.
"He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," Trump, who also branded Musk "disrespectful," told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be.
He also said he had "no" desire to repair his relationship with the South African-born Tesla and SpaceX chief, and that he has "no intention of speaking to him."
Just last week, Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
But their relationship cracked within days as Musk described as an "abomination" the spending bill that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump's second term in office.
Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe and from, there the row detonated, leaving Washington stunned.
With real political and economic risks to their falling out, both had appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters "I just wish him well," and Musk responding on X: "Likewise."
Trump spoke to NBC Saturday after Musk deleted one of the explosive allegations he had made during their fallout, linking the president with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Musk had alleged that the Republican leader is featured in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges.
The Trump administration has acknowledged it is reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos and investigative material that his "MAGA" movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein's crimes.
Trump was named in a trove of deposition and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
"Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files," Musk posted on his social media platform, X.
"That is the real reason they have not been made public."
Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim.
He initially doubled down on the claim, writing in a follow-up message: "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."
However, he appeared to have deleted both tweets by Saturday morning.
Trump dismissed the claim as "old news" in his comments to NBC on Saturday, adding: "Even Epstein's lawyer said I had nothing to do with it."
Supporters on the conspiratorial end of Trump's "Make America Great Again" base allege that Epstein's associates had their roles in his crimes covered up by government officials and others.
They point the finger at Democrats and Hollywood celebrities, although not at Trump himself. No official source has ever confirmed that the president appears in any of the as yet unreleased material.
Trump knew and socialized with Epstein but has denied spending time on Little Saint James, the private redoubt in the US Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged Epstein trafficked underage girls for sex.
"Terrific guy," Trump, who was Epstein's neighbor in both Florida and New York, said in an early 2000s profile of the financier.
"He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."
