Vice President JD Vance’s first reaction to Elon Musk’s Trump-Epstein tweet was caught Thursday on Theo Von’s podcast.
On the “This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von,” episode released Saturday, Von showed Vance one of the most viral tweets from the pair’s feud, in which the Tesla CEO claimed, “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.”
“Ok, wow. I haven’t even seen this one,” Vance said, explaining he was on a plane amid Musk and Trump’s online exchanges.
“First of all, absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein,” Vance said. “Whatever the Democrats and the media says about him, that’s totally BS.”
The social media exchange came just a week after Musk left his DOGE role in the Trump Administration. Vance chalked Musk’s online outbursts up to him “being new to politics” and frustrations that his “businesses are being attacked non-stop” since he joined the White House.
Musk’s departure followed a Wall Street Journal report citing insiders who claimed that even Trump was getting frustrated with Musk and was doubtful whether his goals within DOGE could be reached.
Musk has since spoken out about his disapproval of the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which includes various policy changes, including tax cuts, welfare reform, and infrastructure investments.
“Elon is entitled to his opinion,” Vance told Von on the podcast.
“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 added, “I just think you’ve got to have some respect for him and say, ‘yeah, we don’t have to agree on every issue.’ But is this war actually in the interest of the country? I don’t think so.”
Despite Musk going “so nuclear” online, Vance is hopeful that he can “come back into the fold” within politics.
“I know the president was getting a little frustrated, feeling like some of the criticisms were unfair coming from Elon,” Vance said. “But I think it has been very restrained, because the president doesn’t think that he needs to be in a blood feud with Elon Musk. And I actually think that if Elon chilled out a little bit everything would be fine.”
