Washington, June 8 -- US President Donald Trump has warned Tesla CEO Elon Musk of "serious consequences" if he gives funding to Democratic candidates to run against Republicans who vote in support of the GOP's sweeping budget bill.

Speaking to NBC News in a phone interview on Saturday, Trump said, "If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that." However, he refused to mention the consequences.

He further said, "He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that." Trump said he does not wish to repair his ties with Musk after the two had a public fallout. Musk and Trump have criticised each other on social media platforms X and Truth Social earlier this week.

When asked whether he wished to do so, Trump responded, "No...