Vance Rejects 2028 Report About Musk, Warns Not To Launch Third Party
Vice President JD Vance pushed back Wednesday against reports linking him to conversations with Elon Musk or other high-profile donors about a possible 2028 presidential run, while also warning the billionaire entrepreneur not to move forward with plans for a third political party.
“I saw the story, and as far as I can tell, the story is completely fake,” Vance said during an appearance on Fox News. “I’ve never talked with Elon Musk, or, frankly, any other donor about 2028.”
Vance’s comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported Musk had paused efforts to launch the “America Party” and was instead refocusing on his companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X, his social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The report noted that Musk’s allies said he had not permanently ruled out creating the new party and could revisit the idea at a later date.
Musk first floated the idea of the America Party in July, writing on X that the United States had devolved into what he described as a “one-party system.” He argued both Democrats and Republicans contributed to wasteful government spending, and that a new party was needed to “give people their freedom back.”
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk wrote at the time.
But on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Vance offered direct advice to the tech mogul: work within Trump’s Republican Party rather than attempt to create a new vehicle.
“My advice to Elon would be to try to fix the Republican Party. Try to push it in your own way,” Vance said. “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.”
NOW – Vance says WSJ report about Musk considering backing him is “completely fake. I’ve never talked with Elon Musk or, frankly, any other donor about 2028.” pic.twitter.com/f7DoXh9r0G
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 20, 2025
Vance, a former Ohio senator, argued Musk would have far more influence if he remained aligned with the GOP and President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.
“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 to from the outside,” Vance said.
He went on to argue that Musk’s political positioning already placed him firmly on the right in the eyes of Democrats and progressive activists, citing his views on border security, manufacturing, and law and order.
“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 said directly, addressing Musk. “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 also took aim at Democrats’ political strategy following their losses in 2024, calling their post-election “autopsy” a misguided attempt to imitate Trump.
“The autopsy for the Democrats — some free political advice from the President of the United States — is stop sounding like crazy people. That really is all it is,” Vance said, responding to Ingraham, who noted that California Gov. Gavin Newsom had mockingly referred to him as “Just Dance Vance.”
“I think that ignores the fundamental genius of President Trump’s political success, which is that he’s authentic. He just is who he is. You’ve got to be yourself,” Vance continued. “If you look at the crime issue, they’re calling Donald Trump a fascist for taking action that in nine days has dropped armed robberies by 55 percent. So part of sounding less crazy is being less crazy.”
