J.D. Vance Speaks Out After He’s Dragged Into Explosive Row Between Trump and Musk

06 Jun 2025, 13:31 by Rebecca Schneid · TIME

Vice President J.D. Vance has broken his silence amid the escalating online war of words between President Donald Trump and his former ally and key campaign donor, Elon Musk.

“President Trump has done more than any person in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads,” Vance said on X (formerly Twitter) late Thursday night.

Affirming his stance and support of Trump, he added: “I'm proud to stand beside him.”

Vance’s public statement comes after Musk, who recently left his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), indirectly brought the Vice President into the row.

On Thursday, Musk responded “yes,” endorsing a social media post that said “Trump should be impeached” and that Vance “should replace him” in the White House.

Musk also acknowledged an X post from Vance, sharing a laughing emoji in response to the Vice President's commentary that it had been a “slow news day.” Revealing he was sitting down with popular podcaster Theo Vaughn for an interview, Vance quipped: “What are we even going to talk about?”

The row between Trump and Musk imploded after Musk aired his grievances with Trump’s "Big, Beautiful Bill," which is being considered by the Senate. The Tesla CEO branded the bill a “disgusting abomination” and posted more than two dozen messages on his social media platform on Wednesday, targeting the legislation. He ramped up his efforts to thwart the bill's progress when he told his millions of followers to “call your Senator, call your Congressman… kill the bill.”

Trump responded, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he was “disappointed” with Musk. The row then spiraled and turned personal, with the two going back-and-forth via posts shared on their respective social media platforms.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” Musk said. “Such ingratitude.”

Another post saw Musk claim that Trump is listed in the Epstein files, and that’s why they haven’t been made public in their entirety. He did not provide evidence pertaining to this.

Meanwhile, Trump said via Truth Social: “Elon was ‘wearing thin.’ I asked him to leave. I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy electric cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!) and he just went CRAZY!”

The tit-for-tat row between the President and his former right-hand-man shows no signs of slowing down. But Vance has seemingly made his position clear with his late night show of support to Trump.