Donald Trump warns of 'consequences' if Elon Musk funds rivals - as 'big bomb' Epstein post disappears
Donald Trump has warned of "serious consequences" if Elon Musk funds the US president's political rivals - as the social media post at the centre of their public falling out was removed.
Speaking on Saturday to Sky News' US partner NBC News, Mr Trump warned of repercussions if Musk funded Democrats who opposed his sweeping budget bill.
"If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that," Trump said in a phone interview.
"He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," he added, not specifying what those consequences would be.
'The truth will come out'
It comes after the tech billionaire claimed the US president appeared in files relating to the disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in a post on his social media platform X, as he traded blows with his former colleague in a dramatic public row.
In the post, which now appears to have been deleted, Musk said: "Time to drop the really big bomb:
"@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public."
He had doubled down in a follow-up post, saying: "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."
He gave no evidence for the claim, which was dismissed by the White House - with the posts disappearing from his social media platform by Sunday.
Users clicking on the message - first posted on Thursday - were instead greeted with: "Hmm...this page doesn't exist. Try searching for something else."
Epstein killed himself in his jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors.
JD Vance has his say
Amid the fallout, vice president JD Vance said Musk was making a "huge mistake" going after Mr Trump but characterised him as an "emotional guy" who got frustrated.
He made the comments in an interview with comedian and podcaster Theo Von - one of the "manosphere" influencers the Trump team targeted to gain votes with young men during the election.
"I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that's not possible now because he's gone so nuclear," Mr Vance said.
He also said such outbursts "happen to everyone", adding: "I've flown off the handle way worse than Elon Musk did in the last 24 hours."
'Big ugly spending bill'
Musk and Mr Trump's relationship broke down publicly on Thursday, just days after the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive left his role as a special government employee.
In a fiery exchange, Musk posted a series of messages on X criticising the president's signature tax and spending bill as a "big ugly spending bill".
President Trump posted on his own platform Truth Social, saying Musk had been "wearing thin" and claimed he "asked him to leave" his government position - something Musk denied.
Musk then hit back with his claim about the US president appearing in the Epstein files.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the comment in a statement.
"This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted," she said.
"The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again."
The spat hit Tesla shares, which closed down 14.3% on Thursday, losing about $150bn (£111bn) in value.
In an interview with ABC News, Mr Trump was asked about reports a phone call was scheduled between him and Musk on Friday.
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