Interview on X: Trump and Musk show unity
In the conversation, Trump repeated many of his polemical attacks from his campaign speeches: He indiscriminately denigrated irregular immigrants as a threat to the USA and downplayed the threat of climate change. He also called US President Joe Biden "dumb" and his Democratic rival in the presidential election, Kamala Harris, a "radical-left nutjob" and "incompetent."
Musk, who had formally endorsed Trump's renewed presidential candidacy a few weeks earlier, offered no contradiction to Trump - but often expressed agreement. Musk also described Vice President Harris as "far, far left." The entrepreneur spoke of an "zombie apocalypse at the border" caused by irregular immigration. He said it was not possible for the USA to take in all the people of the Earth.
Musk also offered his cooperation in a possible new Trump administration. He advocated for the establishment of a commission to ensure that taxpayer money is spent wisely. He would be happy to serve on such a commission.
"I believe we are at a turning point in the fate of civilization, and I believe we must take the right path," emphasized the CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. "And I think you are the right path," he said about Trump.
The former president also reiterated that if he returns to the White House, he will build a rocket shield for the USA based on the Israeli "Iron Dome" system. "We will have the best 'Iron Dome' in the world," he said. He did not explain how he would accomplish this - the US rocket shield would have to protect a much larger territory than Israel and also be able to defend against intercontinental missiles unlike the Israeli system.
On climate change, Trump said: "The greatest threat is not global warming, where the sea level will rise by an eighth of an inch in the next 400 years." An eighth of an inch is about three millimeters - scientists estimate that sea levels will rise much more significantly.
The greatest global threat, Trump said, is not climate warming, but "nuclear warming" - he meant the danger from nuclear weapons.
Trump again referred to Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race and the nomination of Harris as the new candidate as a "coup." The 81-year-old Biden had explained his withdrawal from the candidacy after weeks of debate about his mental fitness for a second term.
The start of the live conversation was very rocky. Musk wrote on X that it seemed there had been a "massive" cyberattack.
Trump was banned from the platform formerly known as Twitter after the Capitol storming by fanatical supporters on January 6, 2021. Musk reactivated the former president's account after he took over Twitter in 2022.
In recent years, Musk has moved politically further to the right and allows the unfiltered spread of ultra-right conspiracy ideologies and hate messages on X. Experts also say that Musk himself spreads a large number of misinformation about the US election campaign on his own account, gaining enormous attention with these misleading posts.
Despite Musk's previous endorsement of Trump, he didn't directly challenge Trump's controversial remarks. Instead, Musk echoed Trump's viewpoint on Vice President Harris, referring to her as "far, far left."
Musk, expressing his agreement with Trump, also voiced his concern about the impact of irregular immigration, stating that it's impossible for the USA to accommodate all the Earth's population.
