Donald Trump was looking to make a splash with his live interview on X with Elon Musk this Monday night. Although what he offered again were the same lies that have already been heard at other rallies, with the addition of the fact that Musk never questioned them. The closest thing to a coup d'état was the chaos that occurred before the start of the conversation: more than forty minutes of delay, connection problems and crypto scams that imposed themselves as secondary channels to follow the interview.
Trump experienced firsthand what happened to his main rival, Ron DeSantis, when he also tried to conduct an interview with Musk via the platform. At the time, the tycoon assured that the failures predicted his rival's “disastrous” primary campaign. Despite the technical problems, Trump immediately congratulated Musk for having “broken a record” with a million connected users and for “giving a voice to those who want to be silenced.” Once again, the former president donned the mantle of political martyr. In the same spirit, Musk began the interview by specifying that it was a “conversation” intended to give “open-minded independent voters” an idea of what it means to be able to talk to Trump.
The first question was about the attack on the former president A month ago Trump said that after surviving the assassination attempt, he now believes “more” in God. Although at the Republican Convention Trump said he would only recount the events he experienced at the Pennsylvania rally once because it was so painful for him to remember, in the conversation with Musk he devoted nearly 20 minutes to the topic and announced that in October he would return to the scene of the assassination attempt.
Musk was right to insist that this was a “conversation,” since his interventions were based entirely on praising Trump’s “courage” at the time. “Your response to the attack was inspiring,” the owner of “[Los migrantes] They come in caravans and the people who put them on board are the leaders of those countries. “They send really bad, unproductive people,” Trump said.
Trump recycles the same lies
“They’re taking people out of prison in the Congo and sending them to the United States,” Trump said. It was one of many lies the mogul has recycled at previous rallies during his conversation with Musk. The X owner didn’t even slightly question the mogul’s remarks or ask him where he got the information. Instead, he agreed with the Republican or thanked him.
The permissive stance Musk has maintained in the face of Trump's incendiary rhetoric gives food for thought about the ethical standards that apply to his platform against hate speech and fake news. Or if they are applied correctly. A few hours before the interview began, Brussels demanded that Musk comply with European digital legislation. In a public letter, European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton reminded the owner of the social network that he still does not comply with the Community regulation on digital services in terms of regulating content that can fuel violence.
The good understanding between the two billionaires was such that it was even heard that Trump – who has always been critical of electric vehicles – showered Musk with praise for Tesla and its “incredible” electric car.
Trump's return to X is no coincidence. After seeing how Democratic euphoria with the tandem of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz begins to assert itself, the former president has sought to give his campaign a tour de force to reinvigorate it. The interview with Musk is part of this strategy aimed at once again trying to eclipse Harris, who seems to have stolen the spotlight in recent weeks. Especially after this weekend, polls have begun to show that the Democrat He is already the leader in three key states.
The Republican took a long time to bring up Harris, whom he attacked with the usual comments: he said she is “more incompetent than she appears” and that she is “a radical nutcase,” further to the left “than Bernie Sanders.” “I think we’re going to have a lot of problems with a Kamala administration, that’s my opinion,” Musk responded. Surprisingly, Trump spent more time attacking Joe Biden, who is no longer in the presidential race, than he did Harris or Walz.
The one who said the best words was Argentine President Javier Milei. Trump called him a big fan of “Make America Great Again” and assured that Milei would also “make Argentina great again” by reproducing his motto.
“I want to close the Department of Education and give it back to the states,” Trump said. It's a Republican proposal that has received broad support from the evangelical Christian right and, coincidentally, coincides with one of the points of the controversial Project 2025. Trump has been trying for weeks to distance himself from this project developed within the think tank Ultraconservative heritage foundation.
On Ukraine and Israel, Trump once again said that if he were president, neither Russia nor Hezbollah would have dared to attack. He also once again defended his position on NATO on the idea that the United States contributes too much and insisted on the idea that the world is on the brink of a third world war. At the end of the conversation, which lasted two hours, Musk assured that he believes the United States is “at a crossroads in the destiny of civilization.” “And I think you are on the right track,” the billionaire told the Republican.
Musk's Right Turn
On Monday morning, hours before the interview was set to begin, Trump reappeared on X, posting a campaign video about his campaign. It was the first time the former president had tweeted on the social network since August of last year, when he posted his photo with the phrase “Never surrender.” Even though when Musk bought Twitter, he overrode Trump’s veto, the former president has continued to use his Truth Social platform to communicate with his supporters.
Musk embodies Silicon Valley's rightward shift, having supported Biden in the 2020 election. Since Trump's assassination, the owner of X has grown even closer to the figure of the former president. When the attack took place, he was one of the first to publicly reject the events and support Trump. In recent days, your chronology in X has been filled with messages attacking women in the Secret Service, making jokes about Biden's crisis and praising Trump in general. Even though the good harmony between the two billionaires already comes from before.
As contradictory as it may seem, the relationship between the Tesla electric car maker and the climate change denier Republican has evolved since their early days as open rivals. Just two years ago, they publicly insulted each other, and early in the primary campaign, Musk showed greater sympathy for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But Musk’s rise to prominence as the scourge of the “woke” and the internet’s champion of the right has sparked Trump’s interest in him.
In May The Wall Street Journal published that the Republican is considering hiring Musk as an advisor if he wins re-election on November 5. While the possible role Musk would play is not yet fully defined (and may not even happen), according to The Wall Street Journal It would be a position that would influence policies related to border security and the economy.