'Don’t stick a knife in the president’s back’: JD Vance’s ‘come back to MAGA’ call to Elon Musk; hopes feud cools

US Vice President JD Vance is hoping former Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk to come back into the MAGA (Make America Great Again, coined by President Donald Trump) movement by the midterms and said that if one is patriotic, they will not try to stick the knife in the back of the president. During an interview, JD Vance commented on the strained Trump and Musk relationship since the former introduced "Big Beautiful Bill.""He's obviously got a complicated relationship right now with, with the Trump White House, though. My argument to Elon is like, you're not going to be on the left, right? Even if you wanted to be. And he doesn't. They're not going to have you back. That, that, that ship has sailed. And so I really think it's a mistake for him to try to break from the president. So my hope is that by the time of the midterms, he's kind of come back into the fold.," Vance said. Jokingly, Vance said that maybe Musk would not take his call. But seconds later he said he is joking and added thatthe drama around Tesla chiefand Trumpin the White House over the last couple of months is still going on and hoped that this to cool down. Vance also said that Musk hadhelped Republicans in winningthe election. Recalling the president's remarks he said that Trump even said it isall Musk'sfrustration."My attitude is I try to sort of been pretty big ten about this stuff. Like, if you're patriotic, you're not trying to stick your knife in the back of the president, you're not trying to betray the movement. I don't care about these minor little disagreements and issues. We have to kind of win with the whole movement together. And that's kind of the attitude that I try to take," he added. This escalation ignited after Musk blasted Trump’s flagship spending and tax bill — a measure that gutted clean energy incentives and electric vehicle subsidies. For Musk, whose empire runs on EV dreams, battery futures, and hefty federal contracts, the bill was betrayal by spreadsheet. Trump hit back with characteristic menace, suggesting SpaceX, Tesla, and Starlink only exist because of Washington’s generosity. “Without subsidies,” he said, “Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.” As if the feud needed more reality-TV energy, Steve Bannon jumped in, branding Musk a “dangerous alien” and hinting at nationalising SpaceX to “protect American interests.” To Bannon, who views the world through a civilisational siege lens, Musk isn’t a heroic immigrant innovator — he’s a techno-libertarian Trojan horse undermining nationalist economics. Musk fired back instantly, calling Bannon “a traitor to reason,” and floated resurrecting his teased “America Party” to challenge the Republican old guard. He knows that in the digital age, controlling platforms like X is more powerful than controlling Fox News. His threat wasn’t idle bravado; it was a signal to technocrats, crypto die-hards, suburban engineers, and Silicon Valley libertarians that he could mount an ideological insurrection against Trumpian populism.