Elon Musk deletes anti-Trump posts as president warns of ‘serious consequences'

San Francisco Chronicle​

8 hours ago

Elon Musk has quietly removed several high-profile posts on his social media platform, X, that directly criticized President Donald Trump, signaling a possible deescalation in a feud that exploded into public view this week.
Among the deleted posts were Musk's accusations linking Trump to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as a now-vanished endorsement of a user's call for Trump's impeachment and replacement with Vice President JD Vance.
The deletions were discovered Saturday morning, though it remains unclear why Musk removed the posts.
On Thursday, Musk claimed that without him, Trump would not have secured the presidency, setting off threats from Trump to cut off government contracts with Musk's companies, including Starlink and Space X.
'Time to drop the really big bomb,' Musk replied. '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!'
The X page that once hosted Musk's post now displays a generic error message: 'Hmm...this page doesn't exist. Try searching for something else.'
Musk had also replied 'yes' to a user's post calling for Trump's impeachment. By Saturday morning, that post had also been removed.
The posts had marked a sharp escalation in the rift between Musk and Trump, who were once closely aligned.
Trump purchased a red Tesla Model S in March and, just last week, appeared at a White House event alongside Musk, where he presented him with a ceremonial golden key to the nation.
The alliance began to crack after Musk publicly criticized a sweeping GOP-backed budget measure, the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' which he said did not include the reforms he had championed while leading the Department of Government Efficiency under Trump.
On Thursday, Musk called on Trump to 'ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.'
Trump, in turn, dismissed Musk's opposition and suggested cutting off federal subsidies and contracts with Musk's companies.
'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' the president wrote on Truth Social.
In an interview with NBC News on Saturday, Trump warned of 'very serious consequences' if Musk were to fund Democratic candidates in retaliation.
'He'll have to pay the consequences for that,' Trump said, though he declined to elaborate.
Trump added that Musk was being 'disrespectful to the office of the President.'
He added, 'I think it's a very bad thing.'
Asked whether he intended to mend the relationship, Trump responded simply: 'No.'