Former President Donald Trump, left, during a rally at Minden Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nevada, Oct. 8, 2022, and Elon Musk in Wilmington, Delaware, July 12, 2021.
AP
Elon Musk will interview former President Donald Trump on social media platform X on Monday evening, the latest collaboration between two men whose unusual alliance could have a significant impact on the final weeks of the presidential campaign.
“This is unscripted and has no thematic restrictions, so it should be very entertaining!” Musk, the billionaire and CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, wrote in a Sunday post on X. The event is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and will be streamed on X, which is owned by Musk.
Hours before the interview, Trump posted a campaign ad on his personal X account. It was the first time Trump had posted anything on X since August 2023.
The former president typically limits his social media activity to Truth Social, the conservative platform of his eponymous media company. Trump Media and Technology Group.
Trump helped found Truth Social and later made it his primary platform after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the January 6 Capitol riot.
As part of his deal with the new company, Trump agreed to stop posting content on Twitter (now X) that he hadn't already posted on Truth Social. But the agreement has a loophole: Trump can always use his personal X and Facebook accounts for any posts that are political in nature or related to his campaign, according to a company financial filing.
Trump's return to X on Monday raised renewed hopes that he might post more regularly on the platform that contributed so much to his political rise – now that it is owned by his friend Musk.
Trump Media shares had fallen 5% at the close on Monday before the meeting with Musk.
Musk posted on X that he wanted to conduct “some system scaling tests” before the event with Trump to assess the streaming capabilities of the X platform.
The tests are designed to prevent a repeat of the disastrous live launch of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign in May 2023, which took place on the social media platform. The webcast glitches derailed the highly anticipated event.
Musk plunges into politics
The Trump interview is Musk's latest high-profile foray into the 2024 presidential campaign.
Earlier this year, Musk founded America PAC, a pro-Trump political action committee that he reportedly planned to fund with up to $45 million a month. Musk later denied that he ever intended to donate that much.
The PAC wanted to mobilize 800,000 voters for Trump in the crucial swing states. But after a rocky start and high vote count, according to CNBC, the PAC is facing questions from state election officials about how it collects and uses voters' personal data.
While the fate of the PAC is unclear, Monday night's conversation could give Trump a welcome boost at a crucial moment for the Republican presidential nominee.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appear together during a campaign rally at Girard College in Philadelphia on August 6, 2024.
Andrew Harnik |
Just three weeks after Vice President Kamala Harris's surprise entry into the presidential race, the Democrat has cut into Trump's lead in the polls, changing the dynamics of a race that at one point seemed like a losing one for Trump.
A high-profile, headline-grabbing event featuring Musk could help revitalize Trump's voting base.
A complicated relationship
But it could also go the other way. Trump and Musk are both polarizing figures who have a complicated relationship with each other and with politics.
As recently as 2022, Musk and Trump were enemies of the state, insulting each other on social media and at political rallies.
“I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail off into the sunset,” Musk wrote on social media in July 2022.
The next day, Trump countered Musk on Truth Social:
“When Elon Musk came to the White House… I could have said, 'Fall on your knees and beg,' and he would have done it…” Trump wrote.
Two years later, the two seem to have buried the hatchet.
Musk endorsed Trump in July, just hours after an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania in which the former president suffered a minor gunshot wound to the ear and a bystander was killed.
In turn, Trump seems to have changed his mind about Musk. He has even softened his criticism of electric vehicles.
“I love Elon. He's great,” Trump said at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville last month. “He endorsed me, and that was a great endorsement and everything else. But not everyone has to have an electric car.”
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
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