(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump and Elon Musk had a warm but delayed conversation at X that saw the tech mogul propose a role for himself should the Republican nominee win a second term in the White House, but otherwise repeated notes that Trump routinely strikes at his campaign rallies.
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The long-awaited discussion started about 40 minutes late and went on for more than two hours after it began.
The postponement of the start was an embarrassing blow to Musk’s social network and the latest setback for Trump, whose campaign has struggled to erase Vice President Kamala Harris’ momentum in the weeks since she replaced President Joe Biden as Democratic president. candidate.
The billionaire businessman attributed the delay to a cyberattack, without providing any evidence, and as the event began, Musk suggested that Trump’s opponents were responsible.
Trump sought to interpret the delay as a sign of interest in the event. As many as 1.3 million listeners tuned in, according to X.
Musk has called for the creation of a government commission to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent effectively and has proposed playing a role in that effort.
“I would be happy to help with this committee. I would love for it to be formed,” said Musk.
Trump praised the idea, calling Musk “the greatest cutter.”
But, on the other hand, the event resembled, in some ways, an online Trump rally, with Musk, the richest man in the world, playing the role of moderator.
The conversation comes days after Trump held a more than hour-long news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. One of his campaign strategies is to try to encourage Harris to make more impromptu appearances in the media.
Musk endorsed Trump for president last month, part of a shift that has seen the Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO publicly embrace right-wing causes and candidates to make his mark on the political scene. He also created a super political action committee to support Trump’s re-election effort.
With an already formidable presence in Washington, with companies boasting sizeable government contracts, Musk is poised to be an even bigger player if Trump returns to power. He became close to the GOP nominee, advising him on electric vehicles and cryptocurrency policy — a reversal of a once rocky relationship that saw the two trade insults.
Highlighting Musk’s growing influence over Trump, the former president, long a critic of electric vehicles, praised the electric vehicle maker, saying Tesla’s cars are “amazing.” He also praised Musk’s intelligence, saying “You definitely have a fertile mind. You and I can talk about rockets, tunnels and electric cars”, referring to the businessman’s various business ventures.
Trump’s adoption of a softer stance on electric vehicles could bring huge financial benefits to automakers and Musk’s personal wealth, much of which is in Tesla stock. Trump has promised to eliminate some benefits designed to help the market grow if he returns to the White House. These threats have intensified concerns about a slowdown in EV sales growth.
The conversation between Trump and Musk comes at a critical point in the race to 2024, with less than three months to go until election day. Harris’ rise to the top of the Democratic ticket has shaken up the race, with polls showing she erased the lead Trump held for much of the summer and came out ahead in fundraising.
The first 20 minutes of the event were spent with Trump recounting the assassination attempt on his life last month at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He said he would return to the city in October to resume the campaign event.
Border Repression
Musk, like Trump, has criticized illegal immigration across the US-Mexico border and promoted conspiracy theories that Democrats are encouraging migration to get people to vote fraudulently in the 2024 election. Musk has suggested that the Republican candidate “supported” legal migration, but said the US needs to “end illegal immigration.”
“I think most people who are illegal immigrants are really good, but you can’t tell the difference unless there’s solid verification of who crosses the border,” Musk, who was born in South Africa and described himself as a “ legal immigrant.” ” he said.
“They have to enter legally. They need to be checked,” Trump said.
Republicans took advantage of Harris being given a portfolio that included addressing the root causes of migration early in the administration, even though other officials, such as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, had more direct responsibility for the situation at the border.
“Trump’s entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself – self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who can’t do a live broadcast in the year 2024,” the spokesperson said. from Harris campaign Joseph Costello in a post-campaign statement. event completed.
Musk, who tops the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $227.3 billion, intends to use his vast fortune to boost the race for Trump.
Musk served on White House advisory boards when Trump was president, but left after the Republican decided to withdraw from the historic Paris climate agreement. Musk’s time on the boards was mired in controversy as his supporters called on him to resign.
Technological failure
The technical mishap at
X has faced technical issues and scrutiny since Musk purchased the platform in 2022.
“This massive attack illustrates that there is a lot of opposition to people just listening to what President Trump has to say,” Musk said when the event finally began. “This is really geared toward open-minded, independent voters who are trying to make up their mind.”
Trump was banned from X, then known as Twitter, after the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, but had his account restored after Musk bought the company.
Trump returned to . On Monday, however, Trump posted several times on X, including a campaign video.
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