Donald Trump mocks climate change, says it'll lead to ‘more oceanfront property’: Key highlights
Elon Musk-Donald Trump interview highlights: Trump congratulates Musk for ‘breaking all records in the book’.
Elon Musk's much-awaited interview with former President Donald Trump has begun after a 40 minutes delay due to technical glitches on X's Spaces platform.
Eighteen minutes into an interview that was supposed to start at 8 p.m. EDT., Musk posted on X that the platform was experiencing a “massive” denial-of-service attack (DDOS), which is a federal criminal act that involves flooding a site with data to overwhelm it and knock it offline.
Outage tracker Downdetector reported a spike in reports of X being inaccessible to users starting before the interview but it could not be immediately verified whether this was due to a malicious attack.
Later Elon Musk opened the interview by blaming the delay on “a massive distributed denial of service attack (DDOS)” on X servers. He suggested that the alleged cyberattack “illustrates there’s a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say.” X had faced similar issues when Musk interviewed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on X Spaces in May 2023, which Musk blamed on X’s servers being overwhelmed by the traffic.
Despite the glitches Trump-Musk interview was able to attract over a million listeners from across the world. Trump started by congratulating Musk, ‘You broke records, you silence voices.’, he said. "Congratulations for breaking every record in the book".
Also Read: Trump seen ‘breaking the internet’ with his phone
Musk asks Trump about assassination attempt
Musk opened the conversation by asking Trump about the assassination attempt at his Pennsylvania rally last month.
“I didn’t know I had that much blood,” Trump said, of the shooting, while also saying it was the “best alternative you could think about” as he wasn’t more gravely injured.
“I’m a believer, now. I’m more of a believer in God, I think,” Trump said, following the shooting.
Trump even went on to claim that he was targeted because of his stand on immigration.
Trump said he will go back in October to Butler, Pennsylvania, where he survived an assassination attempt on July 13, the former U.S. president told billionaire Elon Musk in a social media discussion.
Musk appeared to suggest lightheartedly that the charts, which prompted Trump to adjust his positioning moments before the gunshots rang out, had saved his life.
“I just want to say that I think a lot of people admire your courage under fire there,” Musk said.
Trump later joked, "Illegal immigration saved my life," nodding to the topic and a chart he was talking about when shots began to fly.
Also Read: Trump shares plans to shutdown Education Department
Donald Trump mocks climate change
Donald Trump mocked concerns about climate change, suggesting that rising ocean levels would simply lead to “more oceanfront property.” Surprisingly, Elon Musk, who famously left Trump’s presidential advisory councils in 2017 over the decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accords, did not challenge Trump’s remarks.
This silence stands in contrast to Musk’s previous statements. He has previously asserted that “Tesla exists to help reduce the risk of catastrophic climate change, which affects all species on Earth. Even if your faith in humanity is faltering, this is worth caring about.” Musk’s decision not to push back during the interview has raised questions about his stance on climate issues.
Meanwhile, Trump has softened his criticism of electric vehicles, citing Musk’s leadership of Tesla. And on Monday, at least, Trump returned to Musk’s social media platform in force. The former president made at least eight individual posts in the hours leading up to the Musk interview.
Donald Trump shares plans to shutdown Education Department
During their talk, Trump welcomed the idea of Musk joining his next administration to help cut government waste. Musk volunteered to join a prospective “government efficiency commission.”
“You’re the greatest cutter,” Trump told Musk. “I need an Elon Musk — I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts. I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states.”
Musk-Trump interview marred by glitches, Musk calls it DDSO attack
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s much-anticipated interview with Elon Musk on the social media platform X faced significant delays on Monday evening due to technical issues. The event, which was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET, finally got underway at 8:42 p.m. after a 40-minute delay. Musk, who has endorsed Trump, attributed the problem to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, though this claim was not confirmed.
Despite the technical setbacks, over 1.3 million people were tuned in about 45 minutes into the conversation, according to a counter on X. Trump attempted to put a positive spin on the situation, congratulating Musk on the high number of viewers trying to access the stream.
However, the interview drew mixed reactions from listeners, with some noting that Trump sounded as if he had a lisp, likening his voice to that of a cartoon character. Others speculated that the audio issues could have been caused by compression problems.
The technical glitches were reminiscent of a similar event on X in May 2023, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faced a chaotic start to his presidential campaign announcement due to platform-related issues.
Also Read: What is DDOS Attack?
Musk and Trump Interview Draws Attention, Raises Concerns
The chat between Musk and Trump has drawn a precautionary response from Europe. Thierry Breton, a French business executive and the European Union's commissioner for the internal market, expressed concerns over the potential “amplification of harmful content” that could arise from broadcasting the interview. In a letter posted on X, Breton urged Musk to ensure the platform adheres to EU regulations, particularly the Digital Services Act, enacted in 2022 to combat disinformation.
Responding to Breton’s warning, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung criticized the EU, suggesting they should "mind their own business" rather than interfering in the U.S. presidential election. Cheung labeled the EU as "an enemy of free speech" and claimed they had no authority to influence how the campaign is conducted.
Musk, who only recently shifted away from identifying as a Democrat, endorsed Trump’s candidacy just days after the former president survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania last month.