Trump said Musk does not respect the presidency

President Donald Trump told NBC News on Saturday that Elon Musk will face "very serious consequences" if he donates money to the Democratic Party to challenge the Republican Party's support for his budget plan. "If he does that, he will pay the price for that action," Trump said. "He will have to pay the price for very serious consequences if he does that." This happened when the breakup of these two men broke out in public. Trump confirmed he had no plans to make amends with Musk, saying a blunt "No" when asked if he would try to fix things. When asked if their relationship had ended, he replied, "I suppose so, that's right." Just a few months ago, Musk was part of the administration. Now Trump is threatening to punish him for political contributions. Their public feud began earlier this week on social media. Trump posted an attack on Truth Social, and Musk responded on X. But the real tension started earlier when Musk criticized the GOP-led spending bill that passed the House last month. Trump is supporting the bill and trying to push it through the Senate before July 4. Trump said Musk does not respect the presidency In a subsequent question about their broken relationship, Trump stated that he is too busy to think about talking to Musk. "I'm too busy with other things," he said. "I have no intention of talking to him." But he also made it clear that this is not just a matter of money or politics - it's a personal issue. "I think that is a very bad thing because he is very disrespectful. You cannot disrespect the office of the President," he said. The accusation came after Musk posted and then deleted several attacks on X, including an attack pointing out old allegations linking Trump to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump dismissed it: "That's called 'old news', it's old news, it's been discussed for many years. Even Epstein's lawyer said that I have nothing to do with this." The explosion escalated when Trump, from the Oval Office, stated on Thursday that he was "very disappointed" with Musk, whom he claimed was fully aware of the details of the budget bill. "I have helped Elon a lot," he added. Shortly after, Musk posted a series of now-deleted posts, one calling for Trump's impeachment and another warning that his tariff policy would cause a recession by the end of the year. Trump then wrote on Truth Social that: "I don't care that Elon turned his back on me, but he should have done it months ago." He also claimed that Musk knew what was in the budget and waited too long to criticize it. But his strongest attack was aimed at Musk's government deals. "The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to end the government subsidies and contracts of Elon," Trump posted. "I'm always surprised that Biden doesn't do that!" Trump denies investigation, still supports the bill On Saturday, when asked whether he planned to cancel any federal contracts of Musk, Trump replied, "I am allowed to do that, but I have already done it, I haven't thought about it." The warning remains in effect, but Trump did not confirm whether he would actually carry it out or not. There are louder voices outside the White House pushing for even more. Steve Bannon, a longtime ally, has called for federal investigations into Musk's immigration records and business activities. But when asked about it, Trump said he hasn't had those discussions: "I mean, that's not what I'm most concerned about right now." Even when the clash took place in the headlines, Trump dismissed the idea that it could harm his spending bill. He told NBC that he is "very confident" that the bill will pass in the Senate on July 4th. "The Republicans have never been this united before," he said. "Never like this. The fact is, they are even more united than three days ago." What makes this rift more awkward is that Musk spent over $250 million last year to help Trump win the presidential election. After the election, Trump gave him control of the Office of Government Efficiency, a role that led to mass layoffs and the closure of several agencies. But even with all that history, their partnership has collapsed. In the final part of the interview, Trump made an additional critique. He stated that Musk's decline may have benefited his bill "I think, actually, Elon has highlighted the strengths of the bill because people who weren't focusing on it have started to pay attention to it, and they see how good it is," he said "So in that sense, there has been a significant favor. But I think Elon, really, I think it's unfortunate that he is so discouraged and distressed."