Donald Trump warns Elon Musk of 'very serious consequences' if he funds Democrats in future elections

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump warned on Saturday, June 7, that if once-loyal megadonor Elon Musk starts backing Democrats, things could get ugly real fast.

"If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that," Trump said bluntly in a phone interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker. “He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” the 78-year-old commander-in-chief added. 

The tech billionaire has been letting his feelings fly on X (formerly Twitter), slamming Trump over his “big, beautiful bill” and the apparent growing debt it brings.

Musk insisted that if it weren’t for him, the MAGA spearhead wouldn’t have made it back into the White House. He also claimed credit for handing the GOP a 53-47 Senate majority and keeping control of the House.

According to federal campaign filings, Musk poured more than a quarter of a billion dollars into Republican candidates during the 2024 cycle, the New York Post reported.

The Donald Trump and Elon Musk fallout

Donald Trump and Elon Musk weren’t always at each other’s throats. The Tesla CEO worked within the president's second administration, serving a 130-day stint as a special government employee at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and leaving just two days before his term ended. But now, the bromance seems to be dead and buried.

Still, Trump did admit that Musk’s criticism might have actually helped.

“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.”

He added, “But I think Elon, really, I think it’s a shame that he’s so depressed and so heartbroken.”

When Welker asked if there was anything else he wanted to share, Trump shrugged it off.

“No, not at all. We’re doing great. The bill is great. It looks like we’re going to get it passed. Looks strongly like we’re going to get it passed," he said, adding that he was “very confident” the bill would go through by July 4.

Elon Musk's Jeffrey Epstein allegation against Donald Trump

The feud peaked on Thursday, when Donald Trump reportedly threatened to pull billions in federal contracts and subsidies from Elon Musk’s companies. “I’d be allowed to do that,” Trump told Welker on Saturday, though he claimed, “I haven’t given it any thought.”

Musk fired back at the time, claiming Trump is blocking the release of Jeffrey Epstein files because they might implicate him. But Musk deleted it two days later.

Trump brushed it off while speaking to Welker. “That’s called ‘old news,’ that’s been old news, that has been talked about for years," he stated.

It's worth noting that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago way back in 2007 after an “incident” involving a club member’s teenage daughter. This was a year before Epstein’s conviction for soliciting sex from a minor, as per the Miami Herald.

Epstein’s former criminal lawyer David Schoen backed Trump up, too.

“I was hired to lead Jeffrey Epstein’s defense as his criminal lawyer 9 days before he died. 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!” Schoen wrote on X. 

No reconciliation on the horizon for Donald Trump and Elon Musk

When asked if the relationship could be salvaged, Donald Trump flatly said, “No.”

He added, “I’m too busy doing other things,” accusing Musk of being “disrespectful to the office of the President.” 

The Tesla CEO reportedly even tried to patch things up with a phone call on Friday, but the White House rejected it.

Trump told Welker, “I have no intention of speaking to him.”