Elon Musk shared his prediction for the future of the White House at a private event for current and former DOGE members late last month, telling attendees that the U.S. is at the beginning of a “great 12-year span.”
Specifically, Musk, via a video appearance, predicted that the end of the second Trump presidency in 2028 will be followed by two consecutive terms under President JD Vance, Politico reports.
As Trump’s vice president, Vance is currently the favorite for the nomination in 2028, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio even telling confidants that Vance is the frontrunner. New polling, however, indicates that Vance’s initial 20-point lead over the second favorite, President Donald Trump’s son Don Jr, is already shrinking.
Vice President JD Vance is currently the favorite to replace President Donald Trump in the White House in 2028. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Throwing a potential wrench in Vance’s 2028 ambitions is Trump himself, who has repeatedly toyed with the idea of figuring out how to run for a third term as president in violation of the 22nd Amendment.
“I would love to do it,” the president told reporters in October. “Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me,” he continued. “All I can tell you is that we have a great, a great group of people, which they don’t.”
Author Jonathan Karl, who has written multiple books on Trump, has suggested that Trump and his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who has also endorsed the idea of a third Trump term, aren’t serious, however, and are simply trolling Vance.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has been one of the most prominent proponents of an unconstitutional third Trump term. Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Semafor
“I do think that the reason why he keeps bringing up Trump 2028—he’s got the hats he shows everybody… it is absolutely trolling,” Karl said during a Thanksgiving appearance on MS Now’s Morning Joe.
“And frankly, Steve Bannon, who was the one that really started to get this going, is trolling not just Trump’s critics and Democrats; he’s also trolling JD Vance. Bannon, privately, not a big JD Vance fan at all.”
While Vance has tried to play coy when asked about a potential presidential campaign, he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity last month that once the 2026 midterms were over, he would discuss 2028 with the president.
“I try to put it out of my head and remind myself the American people elected me to do a job right now,” he told Hannity, before eventually conceding that following the midterms, “I’m going to sit down with the president of the United States and talk to him about it.”
Musk’s support for 12 years of MAGA comes at the end of a tumultuous year for his friendship with the president, after he became his single biggest donor during last year’s election campaign.
It began with Musk’s appointment as senior adviser to the president overseeing the newly-established Department of Government Efficiency that took a wrecking ball to multiple government departments and wasting some $21.7 billion in the process.
Following the Tesla CEO’s abrupt departure from the White House in May, he seemingly turned on his former boss, joining the growing chorus of conservatives calling for Trump to release the Epstein files, even going so far as to push back on Trump’s claims that the saga was a hoax.
Following an incredibly public falling out with Trump earlier this year, Musk has since sought to get back in the president’s good graces. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
He has since sought to get back in the president’s good graces, however, with the pair appearing at events together and Musk posting praise for Trump on X, even as the president publicly talks down to him.
“You are so lucky I am with you, Elon. Has he ever thanked me properly?” Trump said to attendees at a Saudi investment forum hosted at the Kennedy Center last month.
Taking the hint, Musk shared his gratitude for the president on X soon after the event. “I would like to thank President Trump for all he has done for America and the world,” he wrote in a post on X.