Musk U-turns on Epstein comments as Trump warns tycoon will face 'very serious consequences' if he funds rivals

8 June 2025, 00:24

US president Donald Trump has said Elon Musk will face "serious consequences" if the tech billionaire funds rival Democratic candidates in the future.

Trump's comments over the weekend spawn from Trump's "big, beautiful bill", after Musk hit out at Republicans who vote in favour of the spending bill, sparking a public feud between the two men.

Speaking on Saturday, the president also said he had "no intention" of speaking to Musk after their feud and accused him of being “disrespectful to the office of the President.”

“I’m too busy doing other things,” he said, adding, “I have no intention of speaking to him.”

Asked if he thought their relationship was over, the president told NBC "I suppose so, yeah."

It comes as Elon Musk appeared to delete a tweet posted during his explosive fall-out with Donald Trump, in which he claimed Trump's name appeared in the secretive 'Epstein Files'.

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The pair's very public social media spat culminated in Musk posting to X as he claimed the President's name was included in the FBI files delving into the life of dead paedophile Jefrey Epstein.

Musk wrote: "Time to drop the really big bomb: Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!"

The unsubstantiated claim lead to widespread calls for Trump to release the files.

In a follow-up post, Musk added: "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."

The president's comments about the future funding of rivals, which took place on Saturday, are the most extensive since the public feud between the two men broke out on Thursday.

The Tesla CEO launched a flurry of posts on X targeting the president which included a call for the president to be impeached.

The president's warning comes as vice president JD Vance broke his silence over the comments made by Elon Musk on X.

Speaking on the This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von podcast on Thursday shortly after the social media feud began, Vance said the tech billionaire had made a "huge mistake" in attacking the US president on social media.

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"I think that if he and the president are in some blood feud, most importantly, it's going to be bad for the country, but I don't think it's going to be good for Elon either."

Vance said on the podcast that he had not yet seen the online exchanges at the time of recording as he was on a plane when the feud erupted.

Upon being shown the Tesla CEO's tweet accusing the president of being "in the Epstein files", Vance denied the president's involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, saying "Donald Trump didn't do anything wrong" and calling allegations to the contrary "utter BS."

The president responded to these allegations on Saturday by saying: “That’s called ‘old news,’ that’s been old news, that has been talked about for years."

“Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it. It’s old news.”

JD Vance said on the podcast that his "loyalties are always going to be with the president."

Nonetheless, the vice president praised Elon Musk as an "incredible entrepreneur" and applauded his efforts to "root out waste, fraud, and abuse" via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

JD Vance added that he hoped that Elon Musk will "come back into the fold" of the US government, although he recognised that "maybe that's not possible now because he's gone so nuclear."

He attributed Musk’s online outbursts to him “being new to politics” and frustrations that his “businesses are being attacked non-stop” since he joined the White House.

The vice president said attacks on the Tesla CEO, including the firebombing of his cars, are being investigated as acts of terrorism by the Department of Justice.

The public fallout between the president and the Tesla CEO followed comments made by Mr Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday where he said he was "very disappointed in Elon."

Elon Musk had been critical of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” which includes extended tax cuts and an increase to the national debt ceiling.

The tech billionaire wrote on X earlier this week that the bill would add to the US budget deficit and land Americans with "crushing" debt.

On Tuesday, Musk called the legislation an “outrageous, pork-filled, disgusting abomination.”

Despite Musk's criticisms, the president has said he is "very confident" the bill will pass the Senate before July 4, and said "The Republican Party has never been united like this before. It’s never been. It’s actually more so than it was three days ago."

“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."

Shortly after the president's comments on Thursday, the billionaire launched a flurry of posts on his social media platform, X, which included a call for the president to be impeached.

Trump responded with posts on his social media platform Truth Social, writing in one post: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” referring to federal contracts with SpaceX. “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”

Musk contributed major financial support to Trump’s presidential bid in 2024, spending over a quarter of a billion dollars to boost him in swing states last year.