US President Donald Trump has confirmed that his once-close relationship with tech billionaire Elon Musk is over.
Asked by NBC News on Saturday if the pair’s relationship was finished, Trump replied, “I would assume so, yeah.” When pressed on whether he wished to repair the ties, he responded simply, “No.”
The fallout follows weeks of public criticism by Musk, who donated millions to Trump’s election campaign and briefly served as a White House adviser. Musk openly opposed Trump’s signature tax and spending legislation, known as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” calling it a “disgusting abomination” that would increase the national deficit and undermine efforts to reduce government spending.
Most Republicans have sided with Trump. Vice-President J.D. Vance described Musk’s attacks as having “gone so nuclear” that Musk may never be welcomed back.
Musk’s criticism escalated with accusations on his social media platform X that Trump was implicated in unreleased files related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, claims which were swiftly denied by Epstein’s lawyer and later deleted by Musk.
Trump retaliated on his platform Truth Social, labelling Musk “crazy” and threatening to cut government contracts awarded to Musk’s companies.
In his NBC interview, Trump condemned Musk’s behaviour as “disrespectful to the office of the president,” saying, “You could not disrespect the office of the president.”
Musk, who donated approximately $250 million to Trump’s campaign, has indicated he might support some of Trump’s political opponents in next year’s midterm elections by backing challengers to lawmakers who supported the bill.
Trump warned that if Musk backed Democratic candidates against Republicans, he would face “serious consequences.”
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