Last night, former President Donald Trump made a high-profile return to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in a live-streamed conversation with its current owner, Elon Musk. The two-hour discussion on X’s Spaces platform covered a wide range of topics, from illegal immigration to union busting, with both Trump and Musk emphasizing the need for a U.S. leader who could instill fear in other nations. Throughout the talk, the world’s richest man and the former president showcased their shared traits—enormous egos, a craving for attention, and a mutual sense of victimhood.
While Trump had been banned from the platform after January 6 and was only reinstated when Musk took over, he made his return to the site through this live conversation. Both Musk and Trump hyped the event as a major entertainment spectacle, with Musk promising an “unscripted” and “highly entertaining” discussion. However, the conversation primarily focused on predictable issues like the U.S. border and crime, with Trump using the opportunity to hurl insults and make unsubstantiated claims, including telling Musk—who runs an electric vehicle company—that he planned to “drill, baby, drill” if re-elected.
The event was marred by a delayed start due to technical issues, with Musk later claiming it was due to a “massive DDOS attack on X.” Despite previous technical glitches during high-profile Spaces events, like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid announcement, this latest stream faced similar problems, though top livestream platforms like YouTube and Twitch have successfully handled millions of viewers in the past.
Trump later returned to his own platform, Truth Social, to praise Musk and lash out at the media for reporting on the technical difficulties, stating, “I absolutely HATE the Fake News Media. So bad for our Country!”
Despite their rocky history, Trump and Musk appeared to have reconciled, with Musk endorsing Trump in July and backing a super PAC aimed at boosting Trump’s support in swing states. As the conversation wound down, Trump exaggerated the number of viewers who had tuned in, reflecting both men’s tendency to inflate their accomplishments. They also bonded over their shared grievances, with Trump railing against the “weaponization” of the legal system by Democrats and Musk lamenting his portrayal as a “far-right guy” despite his history of supporting Democratic candidates.
In their discussion, the two men repeatedly returned to the topic of immigration, with Trump making exaggerated claims about the number of undocumented immigrants and the crime they allegedly bring. Musk and Trump also shared misleading views on inflation, blaming government spending during the pandemic, despite the broader economic consensus that inflation was driven by a mix of factors, including supply chain disruptions and increased consumer demand.
The conversation also veered into bizarre territory, with Musk proposing tunnels as a solution to traffic and Trump praising China’s high-speed rail system—though Musk was actually referring to Tesla’s underground transport projects like the Las Vegas Loop. The two also agreed that Vice President Kamala Harris was a “far-left” politician, and Trump repeated his claim that Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race was a “coup” by the Democratic Party. Trump even lauded Musk for his mass firing of Twitter employees in 2022, a move that has since led to federal labor charges.
Musk framed the interview as an attempt to show Trump’s “vibe” outside of a typical adversarial interview, aiming to appeal to “open-minded independent voters.” However, it remains to be seen how many voters were swayed by the conversation.
