As the fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk rages on after the US President warned he would "take a look" at deporting Elon Musk, GB News looks into whether the President could actually deport the tech tycoon.

The two, who appeared to be close friends at the beginning of Trump's Presidency, have turned into bitter rivals with Musk being openly critical of the US President's "big, beautiful bill".

Trump's threats of deportation could fall under the grounds of denaturalisation - a process whereby US citizens lose their status under certain circumstances.

This can happen if naturalised citizens commit crimes such as terrorism, human rights violations, sex or war crimes or naturalisation fraud.

Trump visited an immigration detention facility in Florida when he threatened Musk with deportation

Musk is understood to have become a US citizen in 2002, after being born in South Africa in 1971 to a Canadian mother and South African father.

The Washington Post reports that Musk started his career in the US without the proper work authorisation.

The billionaire has denied this: "I was in fact allowed to work in the US. I was on a J-1 visa that transitioned to an H1-B," meaning Musk was on a temporary visa for foreign students, then moved to a temporary work visa.

As Musk has held a US citizenship since 2002, Trump has no grounds to deport him, with experts say it is very "unlikely" he will be deported.

Professor of law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Michael Kagan said: "Denaturalisation is limited to cases where the Government can prove material fraud in their original applications.

"It is rare and unlikely for Musk. This appears to be irresponsible rhetoric designed to intimidate political opponents."

Trump's threats of deporting Musk came as the 47th President visited an immigration detention facility in Florida, which has come to be known as "Alligator Alcatraz".

But the feud between the two stems back to just last month, after Musk initially spent the first few months of the President's second term as an unpaid special Government employee on Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

After leaving Doge at the end of May, it took Musk just a few days on June 5 to launch his first direct attack on Trump, criticising his signature policy bill.

The Tesla CEO claimed that without him, the US President would have lost the election and was openly critical of Trump's "big, beautiful bill". He called it a "disgusting abomination", adding, "shame on those who voted for this".

Musk later wrote in a tweet, which he later deleted, that Trump was in the disgraced former financier Jeffrey Epstein's files.

The X CEO later retracted his outbursts, stating that "they went too far," which he regrets.

Fast-forward to July, the public argument took another turn as Trump said the Musk-invented Doge needs to "take a good, hard look" at the Government subsidies Musk's companies receive, including SpaceX and Tesla.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social: "Elon may get more subsidies than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa."

Earlier this week, Trump told reporters he will "take a look" at deporting Musk, with the Tesla CEO not explicitly biting back at the President's comments.

Musk has remained cryptic with his current position on Trump

In the Doge unit, Musk initially began with the target of "at least $2trillion (£1.478trillion)" in cutbacks, but was forced to settle for $150billion (£110billion).

In June, Doge claimed to have saved $175billion (£129billion) through a combination of asset sales and granting cancellation and a 260,000-person reduction from the federal workforce.

Musk abruptly left his role at Doge, with Trump stating at the time: "He will always be with us, helping all the way."

However, the US President has now said: "We might have to put Doge on Elon."

Trump stated: "You know what Doge is? Doge is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon."

Questions remain as to what moves the US President may make with Doge against Musk, with the latter remaining cryptic, saying: "So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now."