JD Vance puts Elon Musk in his place with bold warning about staying 'loyal' to Trump
Vance warned Musk not to betray Trump by starting his own political party during a Wednesday night interview on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle.
The former Ohio senator said Musk would wield more influence within the Republican party by staying 'loyal' to the president and MAGA movement.
'My advice to Elon would be to try to fix the Republican Party,' Vance said to Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
'Try to push it in your own way. Disagree with me all you want, disagree with the president of the United States, but don't pretend that you can make a big difference with a third party.'
Vance then advised Musk to convey his differences with Trump privately and not with members of the press.
'I think Elon would make a much bigger difference if he stayed loyal to President Trump's Republican Party, and if he had disagreements, express those disagreements from the inside as opposed from the outside.'
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Musk is holding off on launching his new political party because he wants to remain close with top Republicans, including Vance.
The report claims Musk sees Vance as Trump's heir apparent for the 2028 Republican nominee. Musk has denied the allegations reported in the WSJ.
Back in July, Musk announced he would start the America Party to combat the two-party system after his spectacular falling out with the president.
'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,' he wrote on X.
Musk previously served in the Trump administration as a former special government employee overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
But shortly after leaving the administration, Musk and Trump's relationship fell apart over the passage of the 'Big, Beautiful Bill.'
Reports also suggest Musk had been frozen out of Trump's inner circle after the president canceled the billionaire's top choice to lead NASA.
'I do think that it would be a huge mistake for Elon to go forward with a third party, and my argument to him is whether you like it or not, you are now perceived by the far left as on the side of the American right,' Vance added.
'You believe in law and order, you believe in closed borders, you believe in economic growth and prosperity, you believe in making things in the United States of America.'
Vance concluded, 'The idea that Elon is ever going to go back to being sort of in the middle, where Democrats and Republicans both like him, that's just not going to happen. He is perceived as being on the American right.'
The vice president told Ingraham he never talked to Musk or other GOP donors about launching a 2028 presidential bid.
Vance's political career started in 2021 when he received $10 million from Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel in the GOP Ohio Senate race.
During the 2024 election, Musk's America PAC poured approximately $300 million in support of Trump in key swing states.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
17 minutes ago
- Reuters
US Defense Department to buy cobalt for up to $500 million
Aug 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. is seeking to procure cobalt worth up to $500 million for defense stockpiles amid the country's move to boost its critical mineral supplies. Companies have been scrambling to source rare earths after China imposed restrictions, leading to a 75% drop in rare earth magnet exports from the country in June and causing some auto companies to suspend production. U.S. President Donald Trump in March invoked emergency powers to boost domestic production of critical minerals as part of a broad effort to offset China's near-total control of the sector. In July, Reuters reported that the White House tapped a former mining executive, David Copley, to head an office at the National Security Council focused on strengthening supply chains. According to the tender document published by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) on Wednesday, they are looking for offers for alloy-grade cobalt of about 7,480 tonnes over the next five years. Cobalt, mostly imported by the U.S., is used in batteries, a component in nickel superalloys for high temperature sections of jet engines and industrial gas turbines, among others. However, the defense department was seeking offers from only three companies - units of Vale SA in Canada, Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining and Norway's Glencore Nikkelverk. The document also said the purchase amount can range from between $2 million and $500 million in the five-year period.
Reuters
44 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump visits police, military in Washington amid crime crackdown
WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump took his law-and-order message to the streets of the nation's capital on Thursday, visiting a command center to thank law enforcement officers who are carrying out his crime crackdown. Trump last week deployed National Guard soldiers and federal agents to the city. He said he was temporarily taking over the city's police department in an extraordinary assertion of presidential power, citing what he said is a violent crime wave. City officials have rejected the assertion, pointing to federal and city statistics that show violent crime has declined significantly since a spike in 2023. Trump, without citing evidence, told several hundred uniformed personnel gathered at the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility that their efforts were leading to a drop in crime. "It's like a different place," he said at the facility, which serves as a headquarters for the southeast section of Washington. "Everybody is safe now." "We're going to have the best capital ever," he vowed. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, asked by reporters earlier on Thursday if the city was safer now, said the capital has seen a decrease in crime for the last two years. "We expect that having 500 additional officers will yield more arrests, and we want guns off the streets. Our police officers continue to do the work, and we expect some incremental difference with more officers," she said. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday visited troops at Union Station, Washington's central train hub, where protesters heckled them with jeers and shouts. Trump on Thursday was joined by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, his White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, architect of Trump's migrant crackdown. Trump's administration this week ordered federal prosecutors in Washington to be more aggressive in pursuing criminal cases against people arrested as part of the crackdown in the nation's capital, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The move marked an escalation of Trump's push against what he has described as a wave of crime and homelessness in Washington.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Salvadoran man arrested at airport while trying to self-deport receives punishment: deportation
A Salvadoran man was about to board a flight from the San Francisco International Airport to self-deport when he was suddenly apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and forced to spend several weeks in jail. Jeisson Rony Escobar-Valencia, 30, has a criminal record in the United States and was previously deported in 2021 but re-entered the country illegally after being the victim of violent crime in El Salvador – flouting a judge's removal order. Understanding that he could be deported, Escobar-Valencia decided he would self-deport in July. After purchasing a ticket to El Salvador, he said goodbye to his family and prepared to start a new life in El Salvador with the hopes his family could join him, his attorney, Elisse Larouche, said in a court filing. But before he could even set foot on the flight, ICE officers apprehended Esocar-Valencia at the airport, charged him with re-entry of a removed alien and detained him for three weeks before deporting him, again, to El Salvador. 'All Mr. Escobar-Valencia wanted to do was return to El Salvador,' Larouche said in a sentencing memorandum to a judge in Northern California last week. 'Instead, the government intervened to criminally prosecute Mr. Escobar-Valencia, putting him in criminal custody for this case, followed by a prolonged period in immigration custody before he can return to El Salvador,' Larouche added. In May, the Department of Homeland Security said it would offer undocumented immigrants $1,000 stipend for travel assistance to leave the country voluntarily. Those wishing to participate can notify the U.S. that they intend to self-deport via the CBP Home Mobile App. It's just one of the many ways the Trump administration is trying to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the U.S. – at the behest of President Donald Trump. However, the option only applies to those without a criminal record. Escobar-Valencia was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old in 2018. His lawyer said he took a plea deal under the misunderstanding it would protect him from deportation, which it did not. After serving a three-year-long sentence, Escobar–Valencia was deported to El Salvador but quickly faced physical violence as well as the threat of homicide by MS-13 gang members. Escobar-Valencia chose to illegally re-enter the U.S. months later. His lawyer said he 'understands now that he should not have returned, but at the time, he was in extreme fear and made the wrong and unlawful choice.' Soon after, in 2021, he served a brief jail sentence for failing to register as a sex offender in California. Then in February 2025, he was arrested again for failing to register as a sex offender. But it wasn't until July, when ICE officers discovered Escobar-Valencia, that they chose to arrest and detain him. Escobar-Valencia initially began living in the U.S. since he was 11 years old, when his father obtained a temporary protected status and brought him to escape violence. He had spent most of his life in the U.S., attending school, working, and eventually starting a family. His lawyer says he has two young children and a spouse, all of whom he hopes can join him in El Salvador when he reaches it.
