Latest news on US politics under President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has warned tech billionaire Elon Musk of "very serious consequences" if he supports Democrats in the future following their public falling out. "If he does that, he's going to have to pay the price," Trump, a Republican, told NBC News in an interview scheduled to air on Sunday.

Trump threatened Musk with unspecified consequences if he supported Democratic candidates in an effort to harm Republicans who voted for the president's tax and budget bill.

The budget bill sparked a public dispute this week between Musk, the world's richest man, and Trump, the world's most powerful man. Musk is demanding far more drastic spending cuts. Since Thursday, Musk and Trump have been engaged in an open mudslinging match after months of unusually close cooperation.

Trump does not expect reconciliation with Musk

In the NBC interview, when asked if he thought his relationship with Musk was over, Trump said, "I think so, yes." Trump also reiterated that he wasn't interested in reconciling with Musk. He was too busy with other things. "I have no intention of speaking with him," Trump reportedly said.

On Thursday, the president abandoned all restraint in the face of Musk's criticism, writing that he had "gone crazy." Musk then posted further posts on his X platform with fierce attacks on Trump.

Musk's comment was a reference to the abuse scandal surrounding US billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell in 2019. Epstein was a former neighbor of Trump's in Florida. The investment banker was accused of abusing numerous girls and young women and supplying them to celebrities such as Britain's Prince Andrew.

In his X-post, Musk neither explained which documents he was referring to nor provided any evidence to support his claims. Trump's name also appeared in declassified documents related to the Epstein affair, but the incumbent president was not accused of any wrongdoing.

During the election campaign, Trump expressed his openness to releasing more files, but so far, nothing has happened. After the dispute with the US president escalated, Musk claimed that the real reason for the lack of release was that Trump was included in them.

Musk - owner of the companies SpaceX, Tesla and X and the richest man in the world - joined Trump's MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement in the summer of 2024 and supported the right-wing populist in the election campaign with an estimated 280 million dollars (around 245 million euros).

As a token of appreciation, Trump appointed him special advisor after his election victory and tasked him with massive government cuts. Musk resigned from his advisory position at the end of May. Afterward, the billionaire increasingly criticized Trump's tax plans, which he argued would "bankrupt America" ​​and lead to an ever-increasing national debt.

Parallel to Chancellor Friedrich Merz's (CDU) visit to Washington on Thursday, the final rift between the world's most powerful and richest man emerged. Trump declared that his former ally had "lost his mind" after the latter said that without him, Trump would have lost the presidential election in November.

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