The most diligent speak of a friendly conversation. The most severe of a real “online meeting”. The official terminology is however completely different since on the afternoon of Monday August 12, Elon Musk announced “an interview with Donald Trump”, conducted by… himself. The meeting was given on the social network of the boss of Tesla, “X” (formerly Twitter) at 8 p.m., local time. But the exchanges only started forty-two minutes later, the liberal newspaper gets annoyed Financial Times, like many other newspapers across the Atlantic.
The cause of this delay is a “massive computer attack”, assures the owner of X, anxious to preserve the image of the social network that he bought for the tidy sum of 44 billion dollars in 2022. And for good reason, if Elon Musk insists that it is a “denial of service attack”, called “DDoS”, it is not impossible that these technical problems are of the same nature as those “which occurred during another political event organized by Musk in 2023”, mocks the New York Times (center-left).
Musk, former supporter of Trump rival
Because if the billionaire distinguished himself yesterday as a salesman for Donald Trump, “asking him easy questions” and “without any contradiction”, it is worth noting CNN (center left), Elon Musk previously had another favorite in view of the presidential election of November 2024: a certain Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and among the fiercest adversaries of Trump within the Republican camp.
However, at the time, his announcement of candidacy had also been marred by “the malfunctions on his live chat on Twitter Spaces, which had crashed after about 20 minutes of silence”, recalls the Los Angeles Times. Squawks that did not fail to amuse Elon Musk’s new favorite.
“Wow! DeSantis’ launch on TWITTER is a DISASTER! […] TO BE CONTINUED!” wrote Donald Trump at the time on his Truth Social network. Ironically, or simply a computer glitch, the Republican billionaire had the same experience. Thus, “what was supposed to be Donald Trump’s triumphant return to a central social media platform during his presidency was marred by malfunctions,” summarizes the New York Times. Because after being banned from Twitter following the assault on the Capitol, the champion of Make America Great Again (Maga) had since been discreet on the social network, “preferring his own social media platform, Truth Social,” recalls the centre-left daily.
“Casual Interview”
For this big comeback, the expected audience this Monday evening was also not there. While Elon Musk “had expected that eight million people would join the interview with the former president”, only 1.1 million users on average attended the Twitter Space, notes the Financial Times. On the menu of this “relaxed interview”, according to the formula of Fox News (conservative): “many political issues such as immigration, the assassination attempt [ayant visé Donald Trump] last month, or even galloping inflation,” the pro-Republican media outlet reels off.
The Wall Street Journal (conservative) prefers to talk about an “often disjointed telephone conversation between two personalities who have grown closer as Musk’s political positions have moved to the right”. And this, despite the fact that Elon Musk has opted “for a more nuanced tone than Trump on subjects, notably immigration”, qualifies the conservative daily. Without hesitating to follow in the wake of the New York Times by pointing out that Trump had “falsely claimed that ‘more than 20 million people had entered the United States under Biden’s presidency'”. “Grossly exaggerated figures”, points out the New York Times.
Musk, soon to be in government?
Overall, CNN points out, the two-hour exchange was peppered with “false statements, conspiracy theories and extremist remarks,” with the interview embodying “another extraordinary chapter in a presidential campaign that has defied logic with its stunning twists and turns in recent weeks.”
Unsurprisingly, as the The New York Times, Donald Trump’s attacks on his new Democratic rival Kamala Harris have also been launched.
Furthermore, “the conversation did not provide much new information about Trump’s views,” the same newspaper concludes.. Except perhaps for one: during the live broadcast, Donald Trump said he would “love” to see Musk in the US government. Trump and Musk in the White House? An association that would not be surprising for CNN, since “the richest man in the world and the potential future president have almost everything in common.”