US vice president JD Vance sought to ease growing tensions between US President Donald Trump and billionaire, Elon Musk, calling the Tesla CEO’s recent outbursts emotional but well-intentioned.In an interview with comedian Theo Von released Friday, Vance said of Musk, “I think his heart is in a good place… in the right place, man. I do.” He added, “I think he got into this for the right reasons. I think he’s frustrated. I think he’s an emotional guy.”The remarks come amid a very public falling-out between Trump and Musk, who were once close allies. In recent days, Musk posted a series of sharp attacks on social media, calling for Congress to block Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” criticizing the president’s tax and spending plan, and even suggesting impeachment. Musk also claimed, without evidence,that the government was hiding information about Trump’s links to Jeffrey Epstein.Trump fired back, branding Musk “CRAZY” and threatening to cut off federal contracts to his companies, including Tesla, Starlink, and SpaceX.“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.” He also said Trump had handled the criticism with restraint, saying the president felt some of the attacks were unfair but didn’t want to escalate things into a “blood feud.”“I actually think if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine,” Vance said.Despite the disagreement, Vance praised Musk as “an incredible entrepreneur” and defended the president’s bill, which Musk had heavily criticized. He said the bill’s main goal was not to cut spending, but to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. Vance also praised Musk’s “department of government efficiency” initiative, which pushed for spending cuts and large-scale layoffs in federal agencies, calling it “really good.”
