Donald Trump told Elon Musk that his “enemies” at home were “more dangerous” than opponents abroad, such as China and Russia, during a convoluted two-hour speech on X that was delayed because of technical issues on the social media site.
Musk had planned for 8 million people to attend the conversation with the former president, which started 42 minutes later than scheduled, but according to X, the conversation, which Trump referred to as the “greatest interview ever,” was occasionally heard by over a million people.
Trump has been trying to adjust to a more competitive presidential race since Vice President Kamala Harris unexpectedly defeated President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee for the White House last month.
The discussion focused on Trump’s appeal to Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist” who has turned sharply to the right in recent years and has used social media platform X to push his immigration and regulatory agendas. The conversation started with the former president providing a thorough description of the July assassination attempt on him in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump pledged to visit the community in October, just before the November election.
Then, he charged that Democrats were planning a “coup” to unseat Biden from the presidential ticket. The party “took [Biden] out back behind the shed and basically shot him,” according to Musk.
Trump also accused Harris of shifting to the centre on issues like immigration and claimed that she was becoming into a “radical left, San Francisco liberal… and now she wants to be more Trump than Trump.” The former president has struggled to devise a coherent attack plan in recent weeks as Harris’s polling has increased, even questioning her race. He remained inconsistent in his comments on Monday, rarely mentioning Harris by name.
He remained inconsistent in his comments on Monday, rarely mentioning Harris by name. He also said that he had “enemies on the outside and enemies on the inside” and that “bad people in our government” posed a bigger threat than adversaries from other countries. He was full of rage towards his political competitors. Russian, Chinese, and North Korean officials were “at the top of their game,” according to the former president. He declared, “They are vicious, intelligent, and tough.”
Musk lavished praise on the former president while repeatedly trying to refocus the conversation on more centrist issues, such as immigration, where he characterised Trump as a moderate and distinguished between legal and illegal immigration, as well as reducing government expenditure and limiting the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Trump made up the statements that selling American cars in Europe was “impossible” and that it was “very difficult” for American farmers to sell their crops overseas. He also understated European support and greatly exaggerated US support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. “People are unaware that we have a $250 billion deficit with [the EU],” Trump stated. “‘The European Union’ sounds quite pleasant. They’re nasty, but they’re not as harsh as China, let me tell you.
They most likely informed you because I informed them of it. No, they do not treat our nation with respect.
Before the interview, Musk received a letter from EU Commissioner Thierry Breton warning him not to violate the bloc’s Digital Services Act by disseminating incorrect information or hate speech. In response to comments made by the departing president supporting Musk’s decision to fire striking employees, the United Auto Workers union declared on Tuesday that it has filed federal labour charges against “disgraced billionaires Donald Trump and Elon Musk.” In the Musk interview, Trump stated, “I look at what you do.” “When they go on strike, you say, ‘OK, you’re all gone.’”
The UAW emphasised that it is against federal law to fire workers for striking or threatening to strike. Trump, 78, criticised Biden, 81, for being “near a vegetable state” towards the end of the conversation. “We just don’t have a president right now,” Musk retorted. Trump will be 82 years old at the end of his next term as president, Musk had said in 2022, “which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.” This was referenced by the Harris campaign.
Following the conversation, a Harris campaign official claimed that Trump’s “extremism” was “on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in tonight.”
“Trump’s entire campaign is on behalf of self-centred, wealthy individuals who will sell out the middle class, like himself and Elon Musk.”.
