Trump Warns Musk Not To Back Democrats As Vance Aims For Detente
President Donald Trump said Elon Musk will pay “very serious consequences” if the billionaire tech mogul funds Democratic candidates that challenge lawmakers who backed Republicans' tax-and-spending bill.
Trump, in a phone interview with NBC News' Kristen Welker, also said he has no desire to repair his relationship with Musk. The two had a public falling out on Thursday.
“I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him,” Trump said in the interview, calling Musk “disrespectful” and that he assumes the relationship is over.
The world's richest man backed Trump and Vice President JD Vance's election campaign in 2024 and headed the Department of Government Efficiency's cost-cutting efforts. His alliance with Trump broke apart in dramatic fashion, however, after Musk spoke out against the tax bill backed by the president.
Musk has argued the bill would add to the deficit and undermine his efforts to slash government spending. Trump and his allies, in turn, have pointed to the bill's plan to phase out electric vehicle tax credits that benefit electric carmaker Tesla Inc. as the reason for Musk's outrage.
Trump also told NBC that he doesn't think Musk has the power to sink the tax bill and said he is “very confident” the measure will pass by July 4.
Vance expressed hopes that Musk eventually “comes back into the fold” during an interview on the podcast “This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von” released on Saturday. Trump had encouraged Vance to speak diplomatically about Musk before his appearance on the podcast, according to a person familiar with the situation who shared details on condition of anonymity.
The public feud shaved $34 billion from Musk's personal net worth in a single day, while Tesla lost $153 billion of market value on Thursday.
Trump said he hadn't given his earlier suggestion about canceling Musk's companies' federal contracts any more thought, according to NBC. “I'd be allowed to do that,” he said. “I haven't given it any thought.”
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
