How JD Vance Emerged Unscathed From Elon Musk’s West Wing Frenzy

Taking shots at President Donald Trump usually results in fire and fury from his second-in-command, Vice President JD Vance. Yet Vance, widely regarded as the president’s pit bull, was notably measured when responding to Elon Musk’s scathing attacks on his boss — a posture informed by his own relationship with Musk as well as direction from Trump, sources tell the Daily Caller.

It was the latest example of Vance deftly navigating the precarious Musk-Trump relationship. While other administration officials saw their names peppered in news reports about massive West Wing blow-ups with Musk, Vance emerged from the rubble mostly unscathed.

Vance’s careful positioning in the Trump-Musk feud was by design, one source familiar indicated, noting that Vance had a sense that the partnership wouldn’t last and thus was careful not to get too involved in the day-to-day shifting sands.

Days before his damaging public blow-up, Musk was in the Oval Office for a press conference celebrating his final days in the administration. Trump awarded Musk with a giant gold key to the White House as a thank you. (RELATED: ‘Tough Call’: Daily Caller Reporter Appears To Stump Elon Musk With Question)

The press conference was celebratory in nature. But Musk’s graceful exit quickly devolved with a series of attacks on Trump.

After days of Musk tearing down the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump finally responded in the Oval Office, accusing the former DOGE leader of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” The response set Musk off, who claimed Trump was in the Epstein files and called for his impeachment.

The vice president, who has had a good relationship with Musk, was with Trump when the drama unfolded, a source familiar with the situation told the Caller. As the situation escalated, Vance and Trump talked several times throughout the day.

First, Vance would address the drama in an X post, without directly naming Musk or responding to any of his testy tweets.

“President Trump has done more than any person in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads. I’m proud to stand beside him,” Vance wrote several hours after the Musk drama had begun.

President Trump has done more than any person in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads. I’m proud to stand beside him.

— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 6, 2025

Trump instructed Vance to speak diplomatically about Musk ahead of his planned appearance on the hit podcast “This Past Weekend with Theo Von,” the source added. The interview was taped the day of the blow-up and aired two days later.

“I’m the vice president to President Trump, my loyalties are always going to be with the president. I think that Elon, he’s an incredible entrepreneur,” Vance told Von, reacting in real time to Musk’s tweet about the Epstein files.

“I think DOGE was really good, this sort of effort to root out waste, fraud and abuse in our country was really good, and look man, I’m always going to be loyal to the president and I hope that eventually Elon kind of comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear, but I hope it is,” he continued.

Vice President Vance went on Theo Von’s show just moments after the Epstein allegations from Elon, and as always, he handled the situation with incredible poise and authenticity:

“First of all, absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.”

“My… pic.twitter.com/Bt4iytowt6

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 7, 2025

Though he seemed somewhat irritated by the Musk tweets, Vance held back from throwing criticism at his old colleague. He even toyed with why Musk might be lashing out at the administration, helpfully handing the Tesla CEO an excuse for his behavior.

“Elon’s new to politics, right? So, his businesses are being attacked nonstop. They’re literally, like, fire-bombing some of his cars,” Vance said, talking about how Tesla was attacked throughout the country. “I think part of it is this guy got into politics and has suffered a lot for it.”

“I get the frustration,” Vance said. “It’s a good bill. It’s not a perfect bill, like the process of DC, if you’re a business leader, you probably get frustrated with that process because it’s more, you know, bureaucratic, it’s more slow-moving.”

Ahead of Vance’s response on Von’s podcast Friday, an administration official told the Caller the vice president could have the most to lose if he’s asked to burn down Musk in defense of the president. Musk, of course, could be a major financial backer of a 2028 presidential run.

But one source familiar with the White House dynamics told the Caller that things were made easier by how the president asked Vance to handle the situation.

“Is this war actually in the interest of the country? I don’t think so,” Vance told Von. “So, hopefully, Elon figures it out, comes back into the fold.”

Since the beginning of the Trump-Vance administration, the vice president only tweeted about Musk or his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project four times and reposted similar content three times. Public appearances featuring both men at the same time were relatively sparse.

Vance still took care to keep a positive relationship with Musk, rather than isolating him. The pair entered the White House with a relatively strong friendship, a source familiar told the Caller.

Musk was one of a few people who pushed for Vance to be chosen as Trump’s running mate, sources told CNN. Vance later said in an April interview with Fox News that Musk would continue to serve as a “friend and an advisor” beyond his time as a special government employee.

Earlier in the administration, Vance used his friendships with old colleagues in the Senate to push Trump’s cabinet picks across the finish line. This time, Vance’s relationship-building with Musk would help broker peace between the president and the richest man in the world. (RELATED: How Senate Sherpa JD Vance Helped Guide MAGA’s Favorite Cabinet Picks To Confirmation) 

One of Vance’s main advantages in nurturing a relationship with both Trump and Musk is that, by nature of being vice president, he wasn’t in charge of an agency. This allowed him to avoid the power struggles that seemingly became regular occurrences between Musk and cabinet officials.

In one instance, Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a physical altercation with each other, sources told the Washington Post. Earlier in the administration, Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed in a cabinet meeting, according to ABC News. White House insiders told the Caller that annoyance was growing with Musk inside the administration as he repeatedly made special requests and almost acted like a second president.

The Treasury Secretary punched Elon Musk after Musk hit him. https://t.co/cJi7U3g70t

— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) June 7, 2025

Vance’s conciliatory tone toward Musk — and the lack of major internal squabbles during his time in the administration — put Vance in the position to play peacemaker. The same day Vance’s podcast aired, Vance and Wiles called Musk and urged him to repair his relationship with Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported. A source confirmed the WSJ’s reporting to the Caller.

The source familiar told the Caller on Tuesday that the fight seemed to be headed toward a resolution. Almost on cue, Musk posted Wednesday morning on X that he regretted some of his posts about Trump, admitting they “went too far.”