Elon Musk has made Trump paranoid about his VP JD Vance, claims author Michael Wolff

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump is apparently paranoid because of his former "first buddy" Elon Musk.

According to bestselling biographer Michael Wolff, Musk may have turned Vice President JD Vance into an existential threat to Trump's throne.

Wolff made the claims on 'The Daily Beast' podcast. During a no-holds-barred clash last week, Musk actually called for Trump’s impeachment and even suggested that Vance take over the top job.

Wolff said Musk’s betrayal “struck fear” into Trump and made him suspicious of Vance. According to the author, Vance is an “unlikely Republican” whose “hardcore support is in the tech bro community."

JD Vance in the crosshairs

According to Wolff, Trump picked Vance as his running mate mostly to secure Musk’s money.

“Trump had to choose Vance because Musk's support, which was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, came with that condition,” Wolff claimed. But now, with Musk turning against him, Trump might just want his No 2 to prove his loyalty to him once again.

“He will set up what we will see as a set of tests that Vance is going to have to endure and pass,” Wolff told podcast host Joanna Coles. “(Vance has) got to profess his absolute loyalty to Trump, or he will just be marginalized within the administration.”

It's worth noting that Vance stood by Trump throughout the fallout with Musk.

“I’m the vice president to President Trump. My loyalties are always going to be with the president," Vance told comedian Theo Von during an appearance on his podcast. “I think it’s a huge mistake for (Musk) to go after the president like that.”

Vance also posted on X, “President Trump has done more than any person in my lifetime to earn the trust of the movement he leads. I’m proud to stand beside him.”

But Wolff warns that might not be enough for Trump, who he says “demands flattery on a constant basis.”

Elon Musk’s deleted Epstein post lurks in the shadows

Musk notably raised eyebrows with a since-deleted post on X claiming Trump “is in the Epstein files.”

“The Epstein stuff floats around Trump as a consistent threat, as a consistent silver bullet really,” Wolff said, referring to the alleges ties between Trump and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein from the late ’80s to early 2000s.

Trump has since tried to distance himself from Epstein, insisting he cut ties with him in the early 2000s and had no clue about any of his crimes.

Even David Schoen, a lawyer who represented Epstein shortly before his death, backed Trump following Musk's claim.

"I was hired to lead Jeffrey Epstein’s defense as his criminal lawyer 9 days before he died. He sought my advice for months before that. I can say authoritatively, unequivocally, and definitively that he had no information to hurt President Trump. I specifically asked him!" Schoen posted on X.

But Wolff believes that even though Musk deleted the post, he “could always bring back the threat."

White House goes nuclear on Michael Wolff

Naturally, the Trump camp is not loving Wolff’s commentary.

In a statement to The Daily Beast, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung slammed Wolff as “a blithering idiot who has been widely discredited due to his blatant lies and fabrications.”

“He is an imbecile of the highest order, and his Trump Derangement Syndrome-addled brain has caused him to lead a miserable existence devoid of reality,” Cheung continued, adding, “Nothing he says is the truth, and he resorts to outlandish falsehoods in order to stay relevant since Father Time has passed him by 20 years ago.”

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