Vance Hopes Musk, Trump Administration Reconcile

Vice President JD Vance said he hopes Elon Musk will reconcile with the Trump administration.

Musk and President Donald Trump had a falling out after Musk criticized the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress over the "one big beautiful bill," which he claims will increase spending and add to the deficit.

"I'm the vice president to President Trump; my loyalties are always going to be with the president," Vance said on "This Past Weekend" with Theo Von. "Elon [is] an incredible entrepreneur. I think DOGE was really good. The effort to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in our country was good. I hope that eventually Elon kind of comes back into the fold. Maybe that's not possible now because he's gone so nuclear — I hope it is."

Vance noted that Musk suffered greatly from getting into politics, with sales of Tesla plunging and its stock price declining.

"Elon's new to politics ... I think part of it is this guy got into politics and has suffered a lot for it," Vance said. "The process in D.C., if you're a business leader you probably get frustrated with that process because it's more bureaucratic [and] slow moving. So I think there's some frustrations there. But I think it's huge mistake for [Musk] to go after the president like that.

"I think that if he and the president are in some blood feud, most importantly it's going to be bad for the country but I ... don't think it's going to be good for Elon, either."

Vance defended the bill, which passed through the House and will be considered by the Senate.

"I think that it's a good bill, and it does a lot of good for the American people," Vance said. "Look, Elon's entitled to his opinion. I'm not saying he has to agree with the bill or agree with everything that I'm saying, I just think it's a huge mistake for the world's wealthiest man — I think one of the most transformational entrepreneurs ever — to be at war with the world's most powerful man who I think is doing more to save the country than ... anybody in my lifetime."

Vance said Trump felt some of Musk's criticisms were unfair.

"The president doesn't think that he needs to be in a blood feud with Elon Musk, and I actually think if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine," Vance said.

• Republicans Push Forward on Trump Tax Agenda
• Senate Faces Challenges in Passing Tax-Cut Bill