Vice President JD Vance said Elon Musk made a “mistake” by choosing to pick a fight with Donald Trump, but conceded that he hopes the billionaire gets back onto the president’s good side by the 2026 midterm elections, given the critical role he played in last November’s race.
In an interview with right-wing publication The Gateway Pundit, Vance said Musk currently has “a complicated relationship” with the White House, but suggested the Tesla and SpaceX CEO is in a tough spot.
“My argument to Elon is like, you’re not going to be on the left … even if you wanted to be — and he doesn’t — they’re not going to have you back, that ship has sailed,” Vance said. “I really think it’s a mistake for him to try to break from the president.”
The vice president acknowledged that Musk, a major campaign surrogate and donor to Trump’s 2024 White House bid, contributed to its success.
“My hope is, by the midterms, things are kind of back to normal,” Vance said.
At one point during the interview, Vance joked that Musk may not even pick up the phone if he were to call him, given the tension.
“I kid, I’m sure he would take my call,” Vance said, adding that he hopes the drama between Musk and the White House “cools down.”
Vance seemed eager to downplay the fight between Trump and Musk, declaring that he is “pretty big-tent about this stuff.”
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“If you’re patriotic, you’re not trying to sink your knife in the back of the president, you’re not trying to betray the movement, I don’t care about these, like, minor, little disagreements,” he said.
Musk and Trump were inseparable at the start of Trump’s second term. But following Musk’s departure from the White House, where he led the president’s effort to overhaul the federal government, the two began exchanging barbs after the billionaire publicly attacked the president over his effort to pass his “big, beautiful bill.” Musk also condemned the Trump administration’s handling of the controversy surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
Musk’s comments drew Trump’s ire, and the president threatened to pull federal contracts with Musk’s companies. He also withdrew the nomination of a Musk ally for the role of NASA administrator.
