Trump-Musk feud live updates: President says he has ‘no intention of speaking’ to Elon with no reconciliation in sight – UK Times

Just last week, President Donald Trump was handing his friend and close aide Elon Musk a golden key to the White House, praising the work the tech billionaire had done for the administration.

That press conference was to mark the end of Musk’s time as a special government advisor, leading the Department of Government Efficiency.

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Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s spectacular fallout could have catastrophic consequences for the future of space travel.

The two men – the president and the person who previously referred to himself as the “first buddy” – have been engaged in a high-profile fight that has seen them make a host of threats and allegations about each other in public.

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Trump told NBC News in an interview that Musk will face “serious consequences” if he chooses to use his significant wealth to fund Democrats.

Musk’s opposition to the Republican spending bill up for debate in Congress could lead the billionaire to fund challengers to Republicans who voted for it.

“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview.

“He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” the president added.

Trump told the network he has no intention of trying to repair the relationship.

“I would assume so, yeah,” he said when asked if his relationship with Musk was over.

“I have no intention of speaking to him,” said Trump.

“I think it’s a very bad thing, because he’s very disrespectful. You could not disrespect the office of the President,” he added.

He also rejected the allegation from Musk that he’s in the “Epstein Files.”

“That’s called ‘old news,’ that’s been old news, that has been talked about for years,” Trump told NBC News on Saturday. “Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it. It’s old news.”

Trump claimed that Musk’s criticism of the spending package has allowed Republican lawmakers to see the benefits of the legislation.

“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,” said Trump. “So in that sense, there was a big favor. But I think Elon, really, I think it’s a shame that he’s so depressed and so heartbroken.”

On the “This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von,” episode released Saturday, Von showed Vance one of the most viral tweets from the pair’s feud, in which the Tesla CEO claimed, “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.”

“Ok, wow. I haven’t even seen this one,” Vance said, explaining he was on a plane amid Musk and Trump’s online exchanges.

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Seung Min Kim and Chris Megerian write:

As the Republican Party anticipates potential fallout from Donald Trump’s public dispute with Elon Musk, prominent lawmakers and conservative voices are calling for reconciliation, wary of the repercussions of a sustained conflict.

The animosity between the two figures could pose challenges for the Republican agenda, particularly concerning tax and border spending legislation championed by Trump but criticised by Musk.

Representative Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Washington, expressed hope that the disagreement would not impede progress on critical tasks.

This week, the two former allies bitterly fell out with each sharing strong accusations against the other on social media.

Musk, who infamously invested millions into Trump’s campaign and quickly dubbed himself “first buddy,” became the head of the Department of Government Efficiency. The department was tasked with slashing the federal budget. However, Musk soon found himself ousted from the president’s inner circle after clashing with Trump over his proposed spending bill.

Greg Evans has the story:

James Liddell and Alicja Hagopian write:

Musk harnessed his social media platform to propel Donald Trump to the White House, feeding anti-Democrat content and election conspiracy theories to his followers. Now Musk is turning that same platform – home to nearly 600 million monthly users – against him.

Elon Musk has deleted his tweet in which he claimed that Donald Trump is in “the Epstein Files.”

Musk initially shared the post on Thursday as the spat between him and the president exploded over a disagreement over Trump’s congressional spending bill.

The billionaire also suggested that Trump should be impeached.

“The Epstein Files” is a phrase used to describe information that U.S. authorities hold on the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019.

By Saturday morning, Musk’s post alleging Trump is in the files had been removed.

Vice President JD Vance defended Trump during an appearance on Theo Von’s podcast, as the host brought up the now-deleted tweet by Elon Musk claiming that the president is included in the “Epstein Files.”

“Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein,” said Vance. “Whatever the Democrats and the media say about him, that’s totally BS.”

“First of all, I’m the Vice President to President Trump. My loyalties are always going to be with the President,” Vance added. “And I think that Elon, he’s an incredible entrepreneur. He’s actually done, I think DOGE was really good. This sort of effort to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in our country is really good.”

“And look, man, I’m always going to be loyal to the President, and I hope that eventually Elon kind of comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now, because he’s gone so nuclear,” said Vance.