JD Vance says Musk made 'huge mistake' attacking Trump even as he deletes Epstein claim posts

United States Vice President JD Vance said Elon Musk was making a “huge mistake” going after President Donald Trump in a storm of bitter and inflammatory social media posts after a falling out between the two men.

But the vice president, in an interview released Friday after the very public blow-up between the world's richest man and arguably the world's most powerful, also tried to downplay Musk’s blistering attacks as an “emotional guy” who got frustrated.

“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance said.

Vance’s comments come as other Republicans in recent days have urged the two men, who months ago were close allies spending significant time together, to mend fences.

Musk's torrent of social media posts attacking Trump came as the president portrayed him as disgruntled and “CRAZY” and threatened to cut the government contracts held by his businesses.

Musk, who runs electric vehicle maker Tesla, internet company Starlink and rocket company SpaceX, lambasted Trump's centrepiece tax cuts and spending bill but also suggested Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president's association with infamous paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

“Look, it happens to everybody," Vance said in the interview. “I’ve flown off the handle way worse than Elon Musk did in the last 24 hours.”

Spectacularly public row

Tech billionaire Elon Musk deleted the explosive allegation that links Donald Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that he posted on social media.

Musk, who just exited his role as a top White House adviser, alleged on Thursday that the Republican leader is featured in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges. The Trump administration has acknowledged it is reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos, and investigative material that his "MAGA" movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein's crimes.

Trump was named in a trove of deposition and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

"Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files," Musk posted on his social media platform, X, as his growing feud with the president boiled over into a spectacularly public row.

"That is the real reason they have not been made public." Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim.

He initially doubled down on the claim, writing in a follow-up message: "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out." However, he appeared to have deleted both tweets by Saturday morning.

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Source: TRT