The interview was initially delayed by technical difficulties, but once it began, it devolved into a wide-ranging discussion about last month’s Trump assassination attempt, immigration, foreign policy and the economy. At several points in the interview, Trump gave meandering answers, many of them filled with lies.
When discussing the economy, Musk often talks about uncontrolled government spending, which he says leads to inflation and the high cost of paying interest on public debt. Musk has repeatedly touted himself as a candidate to serve on a “government efficiency commission” that would review government spending.
The committee would “make sure that taxpayers’ hard-earned money is spent wisely,” Musk said. “And I’d be happy to help with a committee like that,” said Trump, who often veers into his often-stated views on the cost of living.
Trump responded positively, telling Musk he would “love” to have Musk on such a committee. The federal government spent $6.13 trillion in fiscal year 2022. Trump then moved on to his talking points about the cost of living.
Musk went on to say that excessive government regulation is another reason for persistent inflation. “If you deregulate, like having sensible regulations, a lot of the regulations are pointless and drive costs to extremes for no reason,” Musk said.
Throughout the interview, Musk and Trump were friendly, joking and complimenting each other.
Musk only recently made it official. confirmed Trump, what he did right after losing assassination attempt against him last month. Since then reports rise that Musk has thrown his considerable financial burden behind the former president’s re-election campaign. America PAC, backed by Musk, has pledged millions of dollars to support Trump. Musk is said to be directly involved in some of the PAC’s work, including efforts to mobilize 800,000 low-propensity voters in several battleground states, according to arrive The Wall Street Journal. (Officials from North Carolina and Michigan are under investigation PAC on allegations of improper voter data collection).
I fully support President Trump and hope he gets well soon. pic.twitter.com/ZdxkF63EqF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 13, 2024
Musk had been less involved in politics until a few years ago. Now, he is one of the pioneers of Silicon Valley. donate Trump. That in itself is somewhat surprising given that the tech industry has historically been seen as a bastion of Democratic support. While still underwhelming, the appearance of prominent tech figures appears Trump’s support is somewhat new developmentIn addition to Musk, Trump’s tech backers include season from venture capitalists like Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Peter Thiel, Doug Leone and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.
Musk’s support for Trump is at odds with his business interests as the CEO of an electric car company. Trump has frequently expressed hostility toward electric cars. He has also said he plans to end of subsidy for electric vehicles, helping to boost Tesla sales. Although Trump may have changed his tune, saying recently that he had “no choice” but to support electric cars because Musk supported him.
During the joint conversation, Trump praised Tesla and called them a “great product.”
Musk’s support for Trump has grown over time. In 2022, during an appearance on All in one podcast, Musk speak that in the past he had voted “overwhelmingly” for the Democrats. At that point, his political allegiances began to shift. By the 2022 midterm elections, Musk will publicly donate of the Republican Party. However, he is still not completely sympathetic to Trump.
“I don’t hate the man,” Elon Musk wrote in a social media post in July 2022, “but it’s time for Trump to step aside and ride off into the sunset.”
I don’t hate him, but it’s time for Trump to leave office and ride off into the sunset.
Democrats should also call off the attack – don’t let the only way Trump survive be to win back the presidency.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022
In the same social media thread, Musk expressed concern about Trump’s age. “Trump will be 82 by the end of his term, far too old to be CEO of anything, let alone the United States,” Musk wrote.
Trump will be 82 at the end of his term, too old to be president of any country, let alone the United States.
If DeSantis were to run against Biden in 2024, DeSantis would easily win — he wouldn’t even need to campaign.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022
Ironically, that was the very argument used to ultimately propel President Joe Biden. out of the race last month. Biden then endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who became the Democratic nominee. Since then, Trump’s large lead in the polls has dwindled. A recent poll showed Harris leading Trump in the key battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
At times, the conversation between Musk and Trump reached an almost apocalyptic pitch, with both worrying about the possibility of world war. “We have a lot of places right now that could end up in World War III,” Trump said.
Musk agreed, emphasizing what he saw as the costs. “The risk of global thermonuclear war is game over for you,” he said.
There is a similar tone when discussing the state of the economy.
The interview, which Musk and Trump have both heavily promoted, was scheduled to take place at 8 p.m. ET on X Spaces, a feature of the app that allows users to host live chats. However, people were unable to join the chat room to listen in. Users who tried to join the chat to listen in live were instead met with an error screen saying the Space was “unavailable.”
Midway through the interview, Musk realized this was the case and tweeted that he believed X was under attack. “It looks like there’s a massive DDOS attack on X,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “Working to shut it down. Worst case scenario, we’ll do it with a smaller live audience and post the chat later.”
Looks like there’s a big DDOS attack on 𝕏. Trying to stop it.
Worst case scenario, we’ll proceed with a smaller live audience and post the chat later.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
DDOS stands for distributed denial of service, which refers to a type of cyber attack that disrupts normal service to a given website. Luck It is not possible to independently verify whether X was the victim of a cyber attack.
Musk also said earlier Monday that X had tested Spaces with 8 million listeners.
The technical difficulties in Musk’s interview with Trump are reminiscent of similar issues with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis encounter when he launched his Republican primary campaign on the platform in May 2023. About 500,000 people tried to join X Space at the same time, causing the site’s servers to crash.
Technical problems during the interview occurred at a hard times for Trump’s presidential campaign, his third. He has struggled to maintain a disciplined message, even more so than usual, dealing with the difficult launch of his vice presidential running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Meanwhile, his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, has energized her party’s base since she took over as the Democratic nominee from President Joe Biden. Democratic voters eager to rally behind a candidate other than Biden have rallied behind Harris, greeting her campaign with considerable enthusiasm. A new poll now shows Harris beats Trump in important battlefield the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which he has led.
