BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) 鈥� President is not backing off saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face 鈥渟erious consequences鈥� if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections.
Trump told N小蓝视频鈥檚 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 CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is over, Trump responded, 鈥淚 would assume so, yeah.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 too busy doing other things,鈥� Trump continued. 鈥淵ou 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.鈥�
The president also issued a warning amid chatter that Musk could back Democratic lawmakers and candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.
鈥淚f he does, he鈥檒l have to pay the consequences for that,鈥� Trump told N小蓝视频, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Musk鈥檚 businesses have many lucrative federal contracts.
The 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. As a major government contractor, Musk鈥檚 businesses could be to retribution. Trump has already to cut Musk's contracts, calling it an easy way to save money.
The dramatic rupture between the president and the world's richest man began this week with Musk's public criticism of Trump's 鈥渂ig beautiful bill鈥� pending on Capitol Hill. Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it
Trump criticized Musk in the Oval Office, and before long, he and Musk began trading bitterly personal attacks on social media, sending the White House and GOP congressional leaders scrambling to assess the fallout.
As the back-and-forth intensified, Musk suggested Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president鈥檚 association with . Musk appeared by Saturday morning to have deleted his posts about Epstein.
Vice President JD Vance in an interview tried to downplay . He said Musk was making a 鈥渉uge mistake鈥� going after Trump, but called him an 鈥渆motional guy鈥� getting frustrated.
鈥淚 hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that鈥檚 not possible now because he鈥檚 gone so nuclear,鈥� Vance said.
Vance called Musk an 鈥渋ncredible entrepreneur,鈥� and said that Musk鈥檚 Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to cut government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was 鈥渞eally good.鈥�
Vance made the comments in an interview with 鈥� who last month and the sexuality of men in the U.S. Navy when he opened for Trump at a military base in Qatar.
The Vance interview was taped Thursday as Musk鈥檚 posts were unfurling on X, the social media network the billionaire owns.
During the interview, Von showed the vice president Musk鈥檚 claim that Trump鈥檚 administration hasn鈥檛 released all the records related to Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them.
Vance responded to that, saying, 鈥淎bsolutely not. Donald Trump didn鈥檛 do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.鈥�
鈥淭his stuff is just not helpful,鈥� Vance said in response to another post shared by Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance.
鈥淚t鈥檚 totally insane. The president is doing a good job.鈥�
Vance also defended the bill that has drawn Musk's ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Trump's first term.
The bill would slash spending and taxes but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by $2.4 trillion , according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
鈥淚t's a good bill," Vance said. "It's not a perfect bill.鈥�
The interview was taped in Nashville at a restaurant owned by musician Kid Rock, a Trump ally.
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Michelle L. Price And Bill Barrow, The Associated Press
