The administration of US President Donald Trump may begin a "purge" among the allies of entrepreneur Elon Musk who hold government positions.
This was revealed by the Financial Times (FT), citing a source close to the White House.
As part of the expected "purge", the publication calls the withdrawal of Jared Isaacsman's candidacy for the post of head of NASA.
Among the individuals who may fall under the blows of the "purge", the FT named "the king" on artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrencies David Sachs, senior policy advisor on AI Sriram Krishnan and former managing director, ex-head of global technology investments at Morgan Stanley bank Michael Grimes.
The latter is now an employee at the US Department of Commerce.
The conflict between Musk and Trump erupted after the billionaire publicly criticized the president's tax law, calling it a threat to the budget. According to Musk, the president's initiative eliminates the benefits of cutting government spending - one of the tasks that he himself oversaw in the White House.
Additional tension in relations with the head of the White House is caused by personnel decisions within NASA.
Musk, whose company SpaceX cooperates with the agency, believes that his opinion is ignored despite his contribution to the space program. He also stated that without his support, Trump would have lost the election and pointed to the US president's connection to the "Epstein files".
In response, the Republican said that Musk had "lost his mind" and threatened to renegotiate government contracts with his companies.