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Tech billionaire predicts that Donald Trump’s second and final term will be followed by two more for JD Vance
Joe SommerladWednesday 03 December 2025 17:03 GMTComments
ClosePresident Donald Trump calls falling out with Elon Musk ‘a stupid moment’ in the latter’s life
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Elon Musk reportedly told a group of past and present employees of his Department of Government Efficiency that he believes the U.S. is embarking on a “great 12-year span,” with President Donald Trump’s second term to be followed by two more from Vice President JD Vance.
The world’s richest man made the prediction during a video appearance to a gathering of around 150 DOGE veterans at the Boring Bodega in Bastrop, Texas, on November 22, at which he also reiterated his dream of building an inhabitable colony on Mars, according to Politico.
He apologized to attendees for not being there to address them in person at the pre-Thanksgiving bash but said he believed he is among the top assassination targets in the U.S., which nevertheless reportedly left some of his guests “underwhelmed” by the event.
open image in galleryElon Musk attending the Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., at which he was briefly reunited with President Donald Trump after their almighty falling out this summer (AP)The billionaire’s forecast appears to chime with current Republican thinking about Trump’s likeliest successor, which places Vance in poll position, despite the president’s own apparent hesitance to anoint him and regular teasing that he could find a means of running again for an unprecedented third term.
ABC News journalist and seasoned Trump watcher Jonathan Karl has said he believes such remarks from the president and his former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon amount to nothing more than joking at the VP’s expense.
“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 guest spot 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.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has, meanwhile, explicitly said he considers Vance the front-runner. However, the VP’s 20-point lead in the polls has recently been reduced to 18 by the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
The Trump Organization executive remains an extremely popular figure with the MAGA faithful and has managed to keep his distance from the Washington “swamp” throughout his father’s two-part reign, leaving him comparatively untarnished with unwanted political associations.
Vance himself recently coyly told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he will not give the question any thought until after the November 2026 midterms.
open image in galleryTrump has so far been hesistant about formally endorsing Vice President JD Vance as his successor (Getty)“I try to put it out of my head and remind myself the American people elected me to do a job right now,” the VP told Hannity, before conceding that, after the midterms, “I’m going to sit down with the president of the United States and talk to him about it.”
As for Musk, he has largely stayed away from politics since helping to bankroll Trump’s 2024 presidential win last year, founding DOGE to cut excess federal spending and then leaving the administration in explosively acrimonious style in early June.
He and Trump engaged in a vicious social media war after falling out over the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that saw the tech boss accuse the commander-in-chief of refusing to release the Department of Justice’s Jeffrey Epstein files because he is mentioned in them.
Musk has subsequently attempted to strike a more ingratiating tone, meeting briefly with Trump at a memorial for Charlie Kirk in Arizona in September and again at a Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center in D.C. last month.
The president has said he suspects he will “always like” Musk, but has generally been less conciliatory, speaking at the latter event: “You are so lucky I am with you, Elon. Has he ever thanked me properly?”
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO duly did so on X.
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Elon MuskDonald TrumpJD VanceSteve BannonMarco RubioDonald Trump JrMAGADOGECharlie KirkJeffrey EpsteinJoin our commenting forum
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