Washington: A war of words has erupted between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, with the Tesla billionaire declaring that the former US president is too old to run for re-election and should “hang up his hat and sail into the sunset”.

Days after Trump accused Musk of being “another bullshit artist” following Musk’s attempt to withdraw from a $44 billion Twitter deal, the Tesla CEO hit back with a series of tweets suggesting it was time for Trump to get out of politics.

“Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America,” Musk wrote.

“I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.”

The battle of the businessmen comes as Trump considers announcing another tilt at the White House against President Joe Biden, whose approval rating has reached record lows as he battles issues such as rising inflation and internal dissent over his lacklustre response to the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion rights.

The comments also emerge amid a broader debate about the ages of some of the nation’s politicians. Biden, for example, is currently 79 and would be just shy of his 81st birthday by the time of the next election in November 2024.

But as a recent New York Times/Siena College poll found, 64 per cent of Democrats want a different presidential nominee, with many of them citing Biden’s age more than any other factor.

Trump, meanwhile, is 76, which is still far younger than many of the senior politicians currently in Congress, such as Democrat Dianne Feinstein and Republican Chuck Grassley (both 88); House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (both 83); or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (82 and 81, respectively).