Donald Trump publicly warned Elon Musk on Saturday that he would face "very serious consequences" if he chose to fund Democratic candidates, following a week of notable contention between the two.

This warning came during an interview with NBC News, set to air on Sunday, where Trump indicated that his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO had soured significantly.

The tension escalated after Musk criticized Republican budget legislation, labeling it an "abomination." Trump responded to this criticism by stating that Musk's funding of the Democratic Party would result in consequences, highlighting that Musk had previously invested approximately $300 million to support Trump’s re-election efforts last year.

When prompted about any desire to reconcile with Musk, Trump unequivocally stated, "No," and expressed little interest in communication, emphasizing his focus on other priorities.

In the interview, Trump posited that the public spat with Musk might have inadvertently united the Republican party, claiming that the party is exhibiting a level of unity previously unseen.

He remarked, "It’s actually more so than it was three days ago."

Musk's opposition to the Republican budget proposal, known as the "one big beautiful bill act," which narrowly passed the House and is currently under Senate review, raises concerns within some factions of the Republican Party.

The legislation extends Trump-era tax cuts and allocates new spending for border security and military initiatives, while proposing cuts to social programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.

Economic analyses from the Congressional Budget Office and independent watchdogs project that this bill could increase the federal deficit by an estimated $2.3 trillion to $5 trillion over the next decade.

In defense of the legislation, White House officials argue that the economic growth expected from the tax cuts will offset the increased spending.

Despite the divided opinions on the bill, Trump expressed confidence that it would pass the Senate before Independence Day, claiming, "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."

He also criticized Musk for perceived disrespect towards the presidency, stating, "I think it’s a very bad thing, because he’s very disrespectful.

You could not disrespect the office of the president."

In a related incident, Musk deleted a controversial post from X, the social media platform he owns, which made unfounded claims about connections between Trump and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump responded to inquiries about this post by dismissing it as "old news," reiterating that he had no involvement with Epstein.

Furthermore, Musk had previously threatened to “decommission” SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, used for NASA operations, following Trump’s suggestion that he might reevaluate SpaceX’s federal contracts.

Trump recently clarified that he had not given further thought to the matter.

In remarks made to comedian Theo Von, Senator JD Vance suggested that Musk was making a "huge mistake" in his approach towards Trump, attributing Musk’s actions to emotional responses and expressing hope for a future reconciliation.