They were seemingly inseparable. They seemed to genuinely like each other and appreciate each other’s abilities.
Donald Trump and Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk were a dynamic duo, dedicated to making America great again—but then it all came crashing down when Musk publicly, and loudly, distanced himself from the president over the One Big Beautiful Bill and threatened to start a new party.
Vice President JD Vance, though, is still an Elon fan and hopes that in the future the team can get back together. Right now, though, “it’s complicated,” he said in an interview Sunday:
"My argument to Elon is ... like ... you're not going to be on the left, right? Even if you wanted to be, and he doesn't," Vance said. "They're not going to have you back. That ship has sailed. And so, I really think it's a mistake for him to break from the president.
"My hope is that by the time of the midterms, he's kind of come back into the fold."
Watch:
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The vice president joked about how things have grown tense between the two sides, saying Musk might not "take my call right now about anything." But he still held out hope that a rapprochement was on the horizon:
“I kid," Vance said. "I'm sure he would take my call, but obviously, the drama around him and the White House over the last couple months. Again, my hope is that it just kind of cools down a little bit, because he did help us a lot in the election. The president even says ... [even with] all his frustration ... Elon was a very critical part of the team last election.
"And so, my hope is by the midterms, things are kind of back to normal. We'll see. Knock on wood."
He added that there may be differences on this or that issue, but the overall goal must remain paramount: winning back our country from the grips of the progressives who tried to destroy it:
"If you're patriotic, you're not trying to stick your knife in the back of the president. You're not trying to betray the movement," Vance said. "I don't care about these minor little disagreements and issues. We have to kind of win with the whole movement together, and that's kind of the attitude that I try to take."
In my view, it is in the best interests of the country for these two leaders to work together. Although Musk’s criticisms of Trump over the OBBB became personal, the president (impressively) held his fire and didn’t strike back in kind. Musk was an important voice on the campaign trail and helped set the tone for the new administration with his early leadership of DOGE. He and his team’s work uncovering waste and fraud in the federal government was an early sign that this was not Trump 1.0—this was something different (and far improved).
We shall see if Musk accepts Vance’s apparent peace offering. Trump and Musk working together would be a whole lot better for the Take Back America movement than seeing them operating at cross purposes. Shake hands and make up, guys.
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