WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warned tech billionaire Elon Musk of "very serious consequences" if he were to support Democrats in the future following their public falling-out, German news agency (dpa) reported.
"He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," Trump told NBC News in a phone interview set to air on Sunday.
However Trump declined to share what those consequences might be should Musk support Democratic candidates to harm Republicans who voted for the president's tax and budget bill.
The budget bill this week triggered the public dispute between Musk, the world's richest man, and Trump, the world's most powerful one. Musk is demanding far greater spending cuts and called the bill "a disgusting abomination". Trump refers to it as the "big beautiful bill".
Since Thursday, Musk and Trump have been engaged in an open mudslinging match after months of unusually close cooperation.
Trump does not want to reconcile with Musk.
In the NBC interview, Trump was asked whether he believed his relationship with Musk, who owns the social media platform X, the electric car company Tesla, and the space voyage firm SpaceX, was over.
"I would assume so, yeah," Trump said.
He also reiterated that he was not interested in reconciling with Musk, saying he was too busy with other matters. "I have no intention of speaking to him."
On Thursday, the brewing feud between the two powerful men exploded with Trump calling Musk "crazy" and Musk claiming that if it weren't for him, Trump would have lost the presidential election last year.
